Top Award for Catering Staff

19 May 2016

Aberdeen’s primary school catering staff have been given a prestigious award for their healthy school meals.

The culinary crew have been presented with the silver accreditation for their use of local, seasonal and organic ingredients to create healthy, freshly prepared meals for school children.

The silver accreditation represents the level of service provided in all primary schools across the city and was finally awarded after a successful audit inspection that was carried out at Scotstown Primary.

The award was given by the Soil Association Scotland’s “Food for Life” awards which aim to improve the food choices young people make.

The national recognition follows months of hard work by many individuals on menu planning, recipe makeovers, food provenance and organic ingredient sourcing.

Aberdeen City Council’s Communities, Housing and Infrastructure convener Councillor Neil Cooney said: “This is a fantastic story of genuine achievement in improving the lives of our school pupils.

“Our Catering staff and all of the Catering Team are to be commended for the great lengths they go through to prepare healthy school meals fresh with ingredients from farms of the North-east.

“Obesity is an ever-growing problem in our society and these men and women play no small part in educating our young people about the benefits of healthy eating.”

Angela Mitchell, Acting Director of Soil Association Scotland, said: “Aberdeen City Council should be very proud of their progression from Bronze to Silver.

“They must be commended for their on-going work in championing excellence in school meals, engaging their primary school pupils, teachers and parents along the way, encouraging young people to make the connections between good food, good health, the local economy and the environment.”