The Love British Food Hospitals Working Group, has announced a national programme of farm visits for NHS caterers, dietitians and board members. This follows the success of the two farm visits that the group organised last year, one of which resulted in a milk and bread tender being opened up to SMEs and a new supplier appointed.
There are four farm visits in England and one in Northern Ireland:
• Tuesday, April 4 Farrington & Son (arable: wheat and rapeseed) Wellingborough
• Wednesday, April 26 Moor Farm (Hereford beef) Shrewsbury
• Tuesday, May 16 The Organic Pantry (vegetables and salads) Tadcaster
• Thursday, May 18 Cross Lanes Organics (beef, lamb and arable) Durham
• Date tbc Charraig Dhubh (Dexter cattle and mixed breed sheep) N. Ireland
Each visit will run from 11am to 3pm and will involve a tour of the farm followed by a working lunch and discussion, with presentations from the Love British Food Working Group’s chairs, NHS England’s Hospital Food Review team and NHS Supply Chain about the new dynamic procurement framework and the opportunities it offers for sourcing from SMEs.
If you want to attend, book your place online: https://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/farm-visits
The Hospital Caterers Association regional branches and the British Dietetic Association are invited to encourage their members to attend, and those attending are asked to invite a board member or a Trust governor to join them as part of the working group’s aim to get food on to the agenda of all NHS Trust Boards.
The Love British Food Hospitals Working Group has appointed two new co-chairs, a leading catering manager and a senior dietitian, to lead the group in achieving its aims. Iain Robertson, Catering Operations Manager, Solent NHS Trust and Kushboo Naik, Senior Catering Dietitian, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will chair the group together.
Iain Robertson says: “I am delighted to be working alongside Kush as she takes on the role of co-chair of the hospital working group. Together we will promote the use of British produce in hospitals and help achieve the many benefits of using British produce. We intend to inspire hospital caterers, dietitians and procurement teams to work with British suppliers through a series of regenerative farm visits. Having attended a visit to Hollis Mead farm last year, I witnessed first-hand the positive environmental impact, the standards of animal welfare and the resulting quality of food produced, and would urge hospital caterers to attend one of the planned visits. As Trusts work towards their green plans, the benefits of working with British suppliers can’t be ignored.
“We will continue to work with the regional branches of the Hospital Caterers Association to promote the work of Love British Food and we hope to grow the membership of the working group to include a member from each of the regional branches of the HCA. This will ensure that the group has good reach to hospital caterers throughout the UK.”
Kush echoes Iain’s words: “The Love British Food Hospital Working Group has been established for over a year and I am honoured to take on the role as co-chair. During 2022 the working group has built a network of passionate members across England and Northern Ireland. The range of specialities includes NHS catering managers, food service dietitians and chefs. One of our goals for this year is to widen our reach across hospitals, including raising support and awareness by catering dietitians via the British Dietetic Association Food Services Specialist Group.
“Patient, staff and visitor nutrition is a particularly hot topic with the release of the National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink last November. NHS Trusts have a legal obligation to provide high quality, healthy, sustainable, and nutritionally adequate food and drink, which should be supported by directors at board level. This includes celebrating and procuring British produce for our hospital menus. National events such as Nutrition and Hydration Week in March, and British Food Fortnight in September are fantastic platforms to highlight the very best of British food, and I look forward to showcasing this with Iain, Alexia and the rest of the working group.”
Alexia Robinson, who runs the group as part of Love British Food’s public sector activities and who sits on the Public Sector Catering Alliance explains: “Our aim is to inspire and enable hospital catering teams across the country to source the very best British seasonal food available and produce quality, nutritious patient meals. There is incredible work being done by catering teams in many NHS Trusts; this group is a platform for sharing these achievements and enabling other hospital caterers to have the confidence, knowledge and support to do similar.
“Asking caterers to source British is not enough, they deserve the whole narrative, and this is what the farm visits will provide. We have also learned that the relationship between catering managers and dietitians can be key to achieving quality sourcing and Kush’s appointment recognises this. We want Trusts to love British food all year and we encourage them to use all the national events such as Nutrition and Hydration Week, the Coronation celebrations and British Food Fortnight, Sept 16 - Oct 1, 2023 to promote British food on menus. We have all the ingredients in place for a hugely productive year ahead.”
The Love British Food Hospitals Working Group is seeking new members who have knowledge and experience that will inspire and enable others in the sector. Anyone wanting to join is invited to email: [email protected].
