July 19, 2004,
Soil Association: New markets are opening up
to farmers to supply local schools, according to the
Soil Association. Current concerns about children's
health mean that more potential exists for organic and
conventional farmers who are interested in supplying
schools with fresh produce, and school caterers are
particularly keen to hear from those who are able to
provide peeled or chopped vegetables.
Speakers at an event organized by the Soil Association
in Harrogate last week encouraged farmers to form partnerships
to supply schools or to link with wholesalers who are
already supplying educational establishments. Schools
want to deal with as small a number of suppliers as
possible and are ideally looking for four suppliers:
milk, fruit & vegetables, meat and dry goods. There
are opportunities to sell outgraded produce, which is
of high quality but not accepted by supermarkets or
the wholesale market. Contracts can provide a steady
stream of income.
The Soil Association event was held at St Aidan's Church
of England High School which prepares around 1,500 meals
a day in its own kitchen using fresh, local produce
wherever possible. The school is working with the Soil
Association's Yorkshire Organic Center to look at the
possibility of serving some organic meat next term.
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| For
More Information... |
| To learn
more about possible Farm to School opportunities
in your area or for help and advice, call
0117 914 2424 or email adaniel@soilassociation.org |
|
One local authority told the Soil Association that
it spends £2.5m on food feeding 200 schools each
year. Of this, around £750,000 is spent on frozen
food, compared with just £150,000 on fresh fruit
and vegetables. In Yorkshire & Humber, there is
a potential market of over 2,500 schools with over one
million pupils.
The Soil Association's Local Food Links team can provide
specialist advice to farmers and schools that are interested
in providing healthy meals as part of the organisation's
Food For Life project. An increasing number of schools
are now looking at the food served: Soil Association
staff have visited 100 schools in the last year who
would like to improve the meals served and is directly
working with local authorities including Shropshire
County Council, Lancashire County Council and Worcestershire
County Council. |
