8 December 2010 | Lindsay Clark
The GreaterLondon Authority (GLA) will
ensure all its catering contracts meet stricter sustainability standards in
future.
It was announced on Monday night by mayor of
London Boris Johnson that the Sustainable Food Procurement Commitment will
require all food bought by the GLA Group is traceable to its production source.
It will use the Red Tractor Assured FoodStandard scheme
as minimum for farm produce. Meanwhile, livestock products will be produced to
higher welfare and environmental standards and all coffee, tea, bananas, sugar
and a wide range of chocolates will be Fairtrade.
The GLA Group includes London Fire Brigade, the Metropolitan Police Service and Transport for London. By 2012, members have committed that, when catering contracts
are up for renewal, sustainability requirements will be included in selection
criteria. This would be achieved without any extra overall costs, the group
said.
Richard Barnes, deputy mayor and the GLA
Group’s responsible procurement programme lead, said: “We are determined to
ensure that public money is used efficiently but even in challenging economic
times, that it is also spent fairly and with maximum benefit to Londoners. This
means using our purchasing clout to buy goods and services that are ethnically
sourced, have minimum impact on the environment and ensure that we generate
skilled jobs, apprenticeships and training.”
The sustainable food commitment, which is
part of the Olympics food legacy, commits authorities to buy free-range eggs
and a proportion of chicken and pork products that are RSPCA Freedom Food-certified
or equivalent. No endangered fish (as certified by the Marine Stewardship
Council) will be bought, and sources will be demonstrably sustainable, which
means they will have the Marine Conservation Society’s Fish to Eat certification.
Meanwhile, requirements of
the faith and diverse communities of the capital will be taken into account at
each catering site, the GLA Group said.
