How should government standards encourage climate-friendly public sector food?

Thank you for taking part in this survey.

We are gathering opinions about making public sector meals more climate-friendly, what best practice exists and what the barriers are to doing more.

It would be great if you can complete this questionnaire if you are:

- A public sector caterer

- A business supplying or catering for education, hospitals, the care sector, prisons, defense, or government offices
- A local Food Partnership (within the Sustainable Food Places or otherwise)
- Working on a project to improve or support public sector food

The National Food Strategy has recommended that public sector food should reflect a climate-friendly diet. We want your views about how this could be best achieved.

The results will inform which policies we call for in a government consultation on public sector food this autumn, and the White Paper on food which is due in 6 months.

The survey is from Sustain: the Alliance for Better Food and Farming and the Sustainable Food Places Network, and we will produce a short report from the results, which will be shared with all respondents who share their email. Please note that we will not share your email with any third parties or use if for anything apart from follow up regarding this survey.

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* 1. NAME

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* 2. ORGANISATION

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* 3. EMAIL ADDRESS

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* 4. TYPE OF ORGANISATION

School caterer

Other public sector caterer, for example care catering, hospitals, prisons, or universities

Food Partnership

Other (please specify)

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* 5. LOCATION (Local Authority)

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* 6. Would you like us to keep your comments anonymous?

Keep my answers anonymous

I am happy for my name and organisation to be used next to my comments

Please check with me first about the specific comment

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* 7. Approximately how many meals does your catering service serve per week? (leave blank if you don’t know)

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* 8. As a rough guess, what percentage of meals served (leave blank if you don't know):

Contain Meat (%)

Contain Fish (%)

Are vegetarian (%)

Are vegan (%)

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* 9. Is your catering service already working to serve climate-friendly meals, by doing any of the following? (tick as many as apply)

	We're already working on this	We would like to do more of this
Offering a number of vegetarian and vegan dishes	Offering a number of vegetarian and vegan dishes We're already working on this	Offering a number of vegetarian and vegan dishes We would like to do more of this
Reducing the portion size of meat in dishes	Reducing the portion size of meat in dishes We're already working on this	Reducing the portion size of meat in dishes We would like to do more of this
Serving better meat, dairy and fish (e.g., free-range, organic, pasture-fed, RSPCA assured or certified sustainable)	Serving better meat, dairy and fish (e.g., free-range, organic, pasture-fed, RSPCA assured or certified sustainable) We're already working on this	Serving better meat, dairy and fish (e.g., free-range, organic, pasture-fed, RSPCA assured or certified sustainable) We would like to do more of this
Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables in each meal	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables in each meal We're already working on this	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables in each meal We would like to do more of this
Serving a number of locally-sourced and seasonal items	Serving a number of locally-sourced and seasonal items We're already working on this	Serving a number of locally-sourced and seasonal items We would like to do more of this
Buying from small-scale local producers	Buying from small-scale local producers We're already working on this	Buying from small-scale local producers We would like to do more of this
None of the above	None of the above We're already working on this	None of the above We would like to do more of this

We’d like to better understand the barriers you face in making climate and nature-friendly food the norm at the moment

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* 10. What do you think are the main barriers to you (or the caterers you work with) doing the following? (Tick as many as applicable)

	Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Current food standards don't support doing this	Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Other	Don't know/not applicable
Serving less meat	Serving less meat Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	Serving less meat The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Serving less meat Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Serving less meat Current food standards don't support doing this	Serving less meat Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Serving less meat Other	Serving less meat Don't know/not applicable
Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable)	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Current food standards don't support doing this	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Other	Switching to 'better' meat and dairy (higher welfare, organic, or certified sustainable) Don't know/not applicable
Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Current food standards don't support doing this	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Other	Serving at least 2 portions of vegetables per meal Don't know/not applicable
Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Current food standards don't support doing this	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Other	Serving locally-sourced and seasonal food Don't know/not applicable
Buying from small-scale producers	Buying from small-scale producers Suitable products aren't readily available (e.g. can't get correct pack size or product type)	Buying from small-scale producers The cost of doing so is prohibitive	Buying from small-scale producers Lack of support from key decisionmakers (e.g. Councillors/heads of service)	Buying from small-scale producers Current food standards don't support doing this	Buying from small-scale producers Chefs struggle with recipes/knowledge needed to produce dishes customers will like	Buying from small-scale producers Other	Buying from small-scale producers Don't know/not applicable

If you ticked 'other', please explain

Your views on proposals for interventions

We believe that public sector food should demonstrate what a healthy and sustainable diet looks like, and we should support quality UK farmers with taxpayer money, as well as encouraging supply chains to invest in more climate-friendly options.

Health and climate experts recommend that we reduce meat consumption by 20-50% compared to average UK diets today, and that the meat we eat should come from more environmentally-friendly sources like organic, agro-ecologically produced and pasture-fed, and free range, as well as MSC-certified for fish.

There are a number of options for doing so. We support a ‘meat allowance’, which is a maximum allowance of meat per person, per week, with caterers allowed to decide how and where they use that allowance, on the basis that caterers know what their diners want best. But there are other options, and we would like your thoughts:

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* 11. Which of the following policies would you prefer (introduced UK-wide), as a way to serve less meat and more vegetables and pulses in public sector catering?

	Support this idea	Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Do not support this idea	Not sure/don't know
A flexible Meat Allowance (as described above)	A flexible Meat Allowance (as described above) Support this idea	A flexible Meat Allowance (as described above) Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	A flexible Meat Allowance (as described above) Do not support this idea	A flexible Meat Allowance (as described above) Not sure/don't know
Two or more meat-free days per week	Two or more meat-free days per week Support this idea	Two or more meat-free days per week Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Two or more meat-free days per week Do not support this idea	Two or more meat-free days per week Not sure/don't know
Requiring meat-free options to be cheaper - eg snacks at least 50p cheaper, meals at least £1 cheaper	Requiring meat-free options to be cheaper - eg snacks at least 50p cheaper, meals at least £1 cheaper Support this idea	Requiring meat-free options to be cheaper - eg snacks at least 50p cheaper, meals at least £1 cheaper Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Requiring meat-free options to be cheaper - eg snacks at least 50p cheaper, meals at least £1 cheaper Do not support this idea	Requiring meat-free options to be cheaper - eg snacks at least 50p cheaper, meals at least £1 cheaper Not sure/don't know
At least 50% of main meal options to be meat-free	At least 50% of main meal options to be meat-free Support this idea	At least 50% of main meal options to be meat-free Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	At least 50% of main meal options to be meat-free Do not support this idea	At least 50% of main meal options to be meat-free Not sure/don't know

Please explain or add suggestions

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* 12. There are a number of options for serving ‘better’ meat - each could be introduced on its own, or we could recommend a few of these in conjunction, please therefore tick as many as you support

	Support this idea	Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Do not support this idea
100% British meat & dairy as a baseline standard	100% British meat & dairy as a baseline standard Support this idea	100% British meat & dairy as a baseline standard Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	100% British meat & dairy as a baseline standard Do not support this idea
Phase in higher standards over time, for example free range eggs in year 1, organic milk in year 2, grass-fed beef in year 3, higher-welfare chicken in year 4, etc	Phase in higher standards over time, for example free range eggs in year 1, organic milk in year 2, grass-fed beef in year 3, higher-welfare chicken in year 4, etc Support this idea	Phase in higher standards over time, for example free range eggs in year 1, organic milk in year 2, grass-fed beef in year 3, higher-welfare chicken in year 4, etc Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Phase in higher standards over time, for example free range eggs in year 1, organic milk in year 2, grass-fed beef in year 3, higher-welfare chicken in year 4, etc Do not support this idea
Mandatory reporting for caterers, on the amount of meat, dairy, fish and eggs served, and the percent from ‘better’ sources.	Mandatory reporting for caterers, on the amount of meat, dairy, fish and eggs served, and the percent from ‘better’ sources. Support this idea	Mandatory reporting for caterers, on the amount of meat, dairy, fish and eggs served, and the percent from ‘better’ sources. Support this idea but with some suggestions (please add below)	Mandatory reporting for caterers, on the amount of meat, dairy, fish and eggs served, and the percent from ‘better’ sources. Do not support this idea

Please use this space to explain your answers, or anything else you would like to add to this survey before clicking 'submit'. Thank you