ISBA

Autumn 2021 | Environmental sustainability www.theisba.org.uk 18 External catering contractors A contract caterer can bring a wealth of experience and tried and tested ideas. The relationship should be a supportive partnership with both parties happy and satisfied with the food service. Unfortunately, all too often, this can turn sour and misunderstandings around levels of expectation and deliverables are common. If you are working with an external caterer, please bear the following points in mind when going through the tendering process: Expect what you ask for: • be clear about what you want from the service in the tender. The contractor will rarely deliver anything not in the contract without you incurring extra costs. If you want a menu that is sustainable, be specific. For example, specify that one day a week should be meat-free, food should not be ultra-processed, higher animal welfare, organic produce should feature etc. Scrutinise and check: • take nothing for granted and ask questions; • if a contractor shows you a menu, check that is the menu you will be receiving at the cost quoted; • if they say they hold a certification, such as ‘Food for Life Served Here’, ask to see their certificate and schedule of sites. Don’t assume they hold the certification in your area or at the level you expect. Check the extra cost of them applying certification in your sites – both the cost of certification and of food costs; • ask to see their policies around sustainability and baselines of procurement; and • ask what would happen if your chef was off sick – would they provide a replacement without extra cost? Hold them to account: • build in regular contract review meetings to check the contract is being met; and • if something isn’t happening as you want, be sure to tell them. You are the client, and they work for you. It is possible to build a very strong relationship between contractors and your school, especially as sustainability is on the radar for most contract caterers. 5. Sell your service: Any successful food service should be celebrated and marketed to customers, who are the parents and pupils in an independent school. If you’ve worked hard to ensure your menu is high quality and sustainable, get the message across. There are lots of ways to do this: • celebrate food on the school website. Rather than just printing the menu go further into outlining your ethos and vision around the food you serve; • can you get producers involved? There are some great videos of farmers talking about their work and how passionate they are about sustainability and animal welfare; and • include regular pieces in your newsletters focusing on the issues around food and climate change and what you’re doing to mitigate this. It is certain that, as we approach COP26, the UN’s climate change conference to be held in Glasgow at the end of October ( https://ukcop26.org/ ) , the spotlight will be on how climate change is affecting and will affect all our lives in the future. By making changes to the food that is served, we can all play our part in mitigating the effects and building a more sustainable planet. As I said at the beginning of this article: food is an imperative factor in combatting climate change. We can impact this. Author Caron Longden Development lead at the Soil Association www.soilassociation.org For more information on Food for Life, please contact: clongden@soilassociation.org Make sure pupils are given enough time to eat their food and the lunchtime environment allows for a calm,sociable and enjoyable meal break