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15 July 2022
We are proud to announce that three LACA Awards for Excellence were awarded to Derbyshire County Council Catering Service (DCS) – a Gold Food for Life Served Here awarded caterer.
The LACA 2022 Awards for Excellence aim to celebrate individuals and teams who continue to make a real difference to education catering and school food. As the cost-of-living crisis hits in the post-pandemic world, caterers are reporting that they will no longer be able to maintain the same level of quality of school meals due to rising costs. It is inspiring to see Food for Life Served Here caterers, fellow LACA Awards nominees and winners continue to excel and to provide good quality food that is of benefit to the local economy, the planet and children’s health. Food for Life Served Here Gold menus use seasonal British produce throughout the year, thereby reducing food miles and carbon emissions. 15% of Gold catering spend must be on organic produce – organic farming has a high standard of animal welfare.
Kate Evans, Head of County Catering Service, won the prestigious Roger Davies Outstanding Achievement Award. This award represents the highest accolade that can be bestowed upon an individual within education catering. It is awarded to the person who has, above all others, demonstrated outstanding levels of service, commitment and made an enormous contribution to local authority catering.
Kate said: “I am truly honoured and humbled to have been awarded the Roger Davies Award. Working within the education catering sector is a privilege. Every day across the industry we all work towards the same goal, to serve pupils the very best we can. The last two years have seen our industry face unparalleled challenges and we continue to overcome difficulties; Derbyshire Catering Service have held steadfast throughout these times, and I am proud to have led such a dedicated team”.
The judging panel said: “Kate’s unwavering dedication to local authority catering is unquestioned, her experience, leadership and passion has transformed DCS into a commercially competitive organisation. As a collaborative leader, Kate is an advocate for the progress that can be achieved by working with industry colleagues to serve pupils the best we can.”
The Derbyshire Catering Service Marketing Team were awarded the LACA Marketing and Green Menu Award and Arnold’s Award thanks to their Food Explorer campaign. This programme is built on three core aims: to empower pupils to try different foods, ask questions about the food on their plate and make good food fun.
So far 253 primary schools have signed up to complete the ‘Adventures of a Food Explorer activity pack’, offering over 30,000 pupils the chance to become Food Explorers. The online video pack shows children where the food on the school menu comes from, how it is cooked and what different types of foods do for your body. Ingredients are also provided for pupils to smell, touch and taste as part of an interactive cooking session. This sort of activity is a fantastic example of a ‘whole school approach’ to food education – something which all awarded Food for Life Served Here caterers achieve.
Pupils served by Derbyshire Catering Service have also joined in the fun through Food Explorer theme days such as the Great British Roast Dinner Day in which Food Explorers were encouraged to discover their new favourite vegetable by sampling many different options including red cabbage, kale and parsnips. A Food Explorer recipe card is also included in each menu leaflet for families to carry on the Food Adventure at home.
Daniella Mulvey, Marketing Officer for the Service said: “We are ecstatic that the Food Explorer campaign has been recognised by LACA. The campaign has been received enthusiastically by schools with cooking clubs, kitchen gardens and baking competitions springing up following the initial campaign activities. We hope the Food Explorer campaign continues to keep the importance of a well-balanced and varied diet in the forefront of everyone’s minds”.
David Persaud, Regional Development Manager at Food for Life Served Here said: “It's fantastic to see Derbyshire County Council Catering being recognised for their hard work and continued effort to provide the best possible meals for the children at the schools they cater for. They worked so hard to achieve Food for Life Served Here Bronze, Silver and Gold and continue to be so dedicated to making lunch times fun and enjoyable for the children with good food at the heart of that.”
To find out more about Food for Life Served Here, please contact Caron Longden: clongden@soilassociation.org or visit the Food for Life sustainable catering awards page: foodforlife.org.uk/catering