Dear [name]

I am contacting you on behalf of [your group name] to support the adoption of a sustainable food procurement policy at [enter your school name], in order to improve the health of our children, reduce school deficits, create inspiring educational activities and minimise our impact on the environment.

[Insert ask in bold e.g. Do you already have a sustainable food procurement policy, or work towards a standard such as Food for Life? If not we’d like you to locally source food/reduce waste/increase vegetarian options/grow vegetables on site. We can help by…]

Why take action?

Our nation is in the grip of an obesity pandemic. 1 in 5 children leaving primary education in the UK are classed as obese[1], while cases of childhood type 2 diabetes are rising. The food we eat is not only debilitating the health of our children- its production has a massive impact upon land, climate and the environment.

One of the worst environmental offenders is livestock production, which is responsible for over 14 per cent of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – more than all forms of transport combined. Despite almost a billion people suffering from undernutrition, 75 per cent of the world’s crops are used to feed animals rather than people. If we don’t change our diets the resulting climate change and damage to natural resources will make it impossible to feed the world in the future.

The environment isn’t the only reason why we need to take action. School dinner uptake nationally is alarmingly low at only 43%[2], with countless schools using school budgets and Local Authority funding to bolster the canteen. It is increasingly important that all schools adopt innovative approaches to increase take-up and balance the books.

Schools like [school name] are in a unique position to tackle these issues:

We know that [School name] buys food to provide [delete as applicable: breakfast, lunch and after-school] food for students, and already has a policy to ensure the quality and affordability of this food. However, a sustainable food procurement policy offers the opportunity to ensure your food is good for the planet too, and offers benefits to yourselves, your students, and your community. It involves trying to limit the impact of the food you buy and serve on climate-changing emissions, the environment and animal welfare.

Sustainable procurement policies usually:

  • Prioritise the use of locally sourced food with low GHG emissions.
  • Promote the increase in vegetarian menu options, reducing the quantity of meat served and moving all meat procurement to high quality, non-processed meat.
  • Take a proactive approach to limit the amount of food wasted by pre-ordering school meals, eliminating the need to over-cater, and developing opportunities to re-use food waste in productive ways to limit environmental impact
  • Create opportunities to grow vegetables on site to actively engage students in their health, while enhancing the quality of school dinners.

How could a sustainable procurement policy benefit [enter school here]?

We feel that by embedding a sustainable food procurement policy at [your school], you can instill excitement about food and healthy eating – thereby increasing school meal uptake, and creating opportunities for investment into much needed areas such as [add an area of need in your school such as new sports equipment/library books/teacher training]. It could also:

  • Raise the level of attainment of students – students who lack vital nutrients in their diet achieve lower grades and higher rates of absenteeism and tardiness[3].
  • Create opportunities for alternative extra-curricular activities – gardening clubs can be centred on a school garden.
  • Limit the amount of budget spent on waste collection.
  • Promote ‘active’ education of the national curriculum which can engage students in the natural environment.

How could eating sustainably benefit the wider community?

  • Nationally, we could save the NHS 1.2 billion pounds per year by reducing the amount of meat in our diets.
  • Decreasing the amount of red meat and processed foods could reduce the prevalence of diet related illnesses such as Type-2 Diabetes.
  • Moving to sustainably sourced food could help reduce harmful GHG emissions.

Some examples of schools who are already championing sustainable food procurement:

  • St Christopher School in Hertfordshire is completely vegetarian, so that people of all beliefs can sit together at lunch – students gain wider educational lessons about respect for others as well as the planet.
  • Manchester City Council provide sustainable food for over 150 schools in the region. Incredibly, the overall uptake of school meals is 20 per cent above the national average in primary schools, and 11 percent higher in secondary schools, thus removing the need to rely on financial aid from the local authority.
  • St Peter’s CE Primary in Shropshire grows its own veg on the school grounds, and unbelievably, the school has had a 16 per cent increase in school dinner uptake since the project has started.

We ask that you work with us to adopt a more sustainable procurement policy at [school name], and support us to explore the opportunities this could create for [your community].

Thanks,

[Your name]

[Contact details]

[1]Health and Social Care Information Centre. 2014. National Child Measurement Programme: England 2013/14. (accessed October 2015)

[2] Department for education. 2013. The School Food Plan. (accessed April 2016)

[3] Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014. Health and Academic Achievement. healthyyouth/health.../health-academic-achievement.pdf(accessed April 2016)