Rich Watts, senior catering mark manager, said: “The Catering Mark recognises the importance of freshly prepared, ethical and sustainable school food and provides a framework for caterers to achieving it.
“We’re really excited that over 8,500 primary schools across England have the Catering Mark Award – it’s a huge step towards creating a healthier food environment for our children. The next challenge is to get Catering Mark food into every school.”
Sunderland City Council and North Yorkshire County Caterers are the most recent school caterers to receive their bronze Catering Mark and boost the number of primary school Catering Mark standard meals to over 50%.
North Yorkshire County Caterers achieved the award for their in house catering in schools. They serve 22,063 meals primary school meals and 11,934 secondary school meals per day, across a total of 296 sites.
The Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark provides an independent endorsement that caterers are taking steps to improve the food they serve, using more fresh, sustainable ingredients which are free from harmful additives and better for animal welfare.
The Food for Life Catering Mark provides a springboard for many schools to go on to achieve a wider Food for Life Schools Award, which looks not only at the quality of food served, but also dining experience and food education for pupils, parents and the wider community.