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ISS has launched a new low-carbon initiative into its secondary school menus in the UK, working alongside partner Coolfood — an initiative run by not-for-profit organisation, World Resources Institute (WRI) — to cut food-related emissions across the education sector.
It sees ISS become the world’s first organisation to launch plant-rich meals certified by Coolfood as low carbon in a secondary educational setting, with over 9,000 pupils a day across an initial 11 secondary schools being eligible to receive the meals.
Coolfood has analysed ISS recipes, and meals that boast a 38 per cent lower carbon emission rate than the average school dish will now feature the Coolfood menu badge to help students quickly spot low-carbon choices.
The initiative announcement comes a year on from ISS first teaming up with Coolfood to lower the carbon emissions of food at sites across the business, having signed up to the Coolfood Pledge to reduce carbon emissions. The partnership has since extended, with the certification badge-specific meals now available within healthcare and other industry settings.
Coolfood uses science-based methods to help food service providers around the world lower the climate impact of the food they serve. In keeping with ISS’ ‘Small change, big impact’ approach, the meals demonstrate how simple it is to make significant changes by effortlessly swapping meal choices, reducing the climate footprint of schools and empowering young people to help build a more sustainable future.
Some of the new meals were unveiled at a launch event at Outwood Academy in Freeston, West Yorkshire, on Tuesday, with pupils and teachers in attendance to sample the food offerings, which will become key part of ISS’s Autumn 2024 secondary school menu in the UK. The menus will officially launch across applicable secondary schools in the UK on November 4.
Linda Cregan, Head of Food Sustainability & Education Catering at ISS UK & Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to finally reveal the launch of Coolfood meals across secondary schools in the UK. This initiative will above all help to reduce the climate footprint of schools and empower young people to help build a more sustainable future through the food choices they make. We’re already delighted with the feedback from our launch event, and can’t wait to bring such a wide variety of delicious, plant-rich, and expertly crafted recipes to school tables nationwide.”
