Brighton & Hove was one of the first cities in the UK to take a citywide, strategic approach to food issues when it launched ‘Spade to Spoon: Digging Deeper’ - Brighton & Hove’s strategy for a local food system which is healthy, sustainable and fair. It provides a set of nine aims that the city’s food strategy will work towards and outlines a five year action plan for partners (2012-2017). Aim 4 of the strategy focuses directly upon sustainable food procurement by public bodies in the city, and is further broken down with three objectives (BH Food Partnership, 2012):
Aim 4: Public organisations have healthy, ethical and environmentally responsible food procurement policies and practices
4.1 Increase the number of public institutions serving healthy food
4.2 Set up a working group to look at purchasing and procurement issues, learning from good practice within the city and elsewhere in the country
4.3 Public organisations introduce purchasing policies that encourage environmental sustainability, local sourcing, animal welfare, healthy eating and fair trade
Under this aim Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) recently approved pioneering Minimum Buying Standards for public catering contracts which specify that contracts over £75,000 per year are delivered to Bronze Food for Life (FFL) Standards (Soil Association, 2014) as a minimum and contracts under £75,000 be delivered to the Minimum Buying Standards requirements equivalent to Bronze FFL, though certification is not a requirement (BHCC, 2014).
A number of canteens under BHCC’s operation have already achieved the Bronze FFL standard, including the Councils School Meals Service which serves 7,000 meals a day across sixty-four canteens and the Brighton Centre, in collaboration with Kudos (which holds the on-site catering contract), which hosts 250,000 visitors a year and is working towards Silver FFL standard (BH Food Partnership, 2014).
“All 7,000 meals served at primary and special schools across Brighton & Hove feature local, free-range eggs; all meat is British and all fish carries the MSC certification. A seasonal vegetables slot on the menu every Wednesday gives us the flexibility to use the best produce available. Global produce such as bananas and fruit juice are Fair Trade. We are on a continuous journey to make improvements to the food we serve and to ensure that the dining experience is positive for all children across the city” Susie Haworth, School Meals Team Manager at Brighton & Hove City Council (BH Food Partnership, 2013)