How can the school food sector and farmers work together?

04 November 2021

We recently presented our vision for how the school food procurement industry can work more effectively with farmers at the LACA Main Event, the leading national exhibition and conference for the school food sector.

The procurement of food for schools is a key theme in both our Levelling Up Rural Britain and British Food Leading the Way reports.

Our foodservice and procurement adviser Bethan Cowell spoke to delegates as part of a panel discussion alongside representatives from Defra, the South West Food Hub and TUCO (The University Caterers Organisation).

The session outlined both the opportunities and changes within public sector food procurement.

Mrs Cowell talked about how British farmers currently engage with and supply to the school food sector, alongside proposing how we believe British food producers can work together with school food providers in the future.

How can British farmers and the school food sector work together?

British farmers and the school food sector can work together to champion British food and farming by:

  • Creating innovative menus utilising different cuts of meat to help balance the carcass and stabilise price pressures.
  • Underpinning meals with British vegetables.
  • Developing seasonal menus to optimise British production.
  • Working more directly with suppliers to build longer term supply agreements.
  • Championing the value of British food and educating children about a healthy balanced diet.
  • Becoming an advocate for British food production standards. The school food sector can support farmers in urging government to make sure future trade deals do not undermine our existing standards.
  • Working in partnership to deliver net zero supply chains. If schools are looking to reduce their carbon impact, they can do this by putting British food is at the heart of their menus.
  • Working in partnership to urge the government to maximise all opportunities to drive meaningful change within public sector procurement policy.

The role of the government

Mrs Cowell outlined the huge role the government has to play in driving meaningful difference within public sector procurement. With the Government Buying Standard for food and catering services consultation imminent, she urged Defra to make sure it addresses:

  • The ability for government to be ambitious in its commitment to sourcing from the UK food and drink sector.
  • The role of government’s own purchasing decisions in reinforcing and upholding British food standards.
  • Food procurement price challenges, by reinforcing the principles of the Balanced Scorecard and embedding the importance of the 'social value' of food into contracts.
  • Accountability and transparency within the sector to enable the capture and utilisation of data to drive innovations within supply chains.
  • How procurement policy links with wider agricultural policy commitments. For example, how will standards work with the NFU’s commitment to achieve net zero for farming by 2040?

What is the NFU working on next?

We will be responding to the Government Buying Standard for food and catering services in 2022. If you supply the public sector and want to get involved with this work, we'd like to hear from you.

We would like to hear about all kinds of experiences. Please get in touch if you:

  • Have previously supplied to the public sector
  • Currently supply to the public sector
  • Wish to supply to the public sector in future.

Your experiences will help us to build case studies. We'd like to find examples of success stories and also the supply chain hurdles and challenges our members have experienced. These case studies will form part of our response to the government’s review.

We also look forward to building on our relationships with LACA and school food providers on behalf of our members.

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