Healthy T aims for awards

Building on the success of the Healthy T area at last summer’s T in the Park music festival, the Scottish Government is encouraging all Healthy T caterers this year to register for the healthyliving award.

Coretalk reported last summer on the Sir Walter Raleigh Hot Potato Company, which was the first healthyliving award holder to take part.

The Healthy T area, which includes food, relaxation and health advice, was one of the event’s highlights in 2009, proving to be a big hit with festival-goers.

The Scottish Government, which supports the Healthy T area, is aiming ultimately for all participating caterers trading within the area to hold the healthyliving award.

Green apples could be on the menu for businesses through council’s healthy catering project
By James Harris, Healthy Catering Advisor, Perth & Kinross Council, The Environment Service

An innovative healthy catering project, being led by The Environment Service at Perth & Kinross Council, is working with 50 companies in Perth and Kinross to encourage them to make simple and realistic changes to the way that food is prepared and served, based on the healthyliving award criteria.

The project, partly funded by the Food Standards Agency, is the first of its kind in Scotland and a range of business sectors are being targeted, including:

• Take-away shops
• Cafés
• Residential care homes
• Local education establishments
• Leisure facilities

Firms were invited to a healthy catering seminar which covered information on methods of reducing saturated fat and salt in food. Individual meetings between businesses and a healthy catering advisor from the council are also being conducted.

These meetings encourage small step changes, at a rate suitable to each firm, towards improving access to healthier foods to the benefit of customers who choose a healthy option.

The personal approach being taken also has the benefit of being able to assess the eligibility of the business in gaining a healthyliving award.

Feedback from the project has been positive to date, and it is hoped the final assessment of the initiative will reflect the joint work done by the Council and the food businesses involved.

The healthyliving award is open to catering outlets in the community and voluntary sectors - it’s not just for commercial businesses or large organisations.

Port Seton Resource Centre staff and service users

One such café to have achieved the award is Port Seton Resource Centre, run by East Lothian Council. Service users at the centre worked with café staff to plan menus that offer healthy yet tasty meal choices.

Centre staff also work with a community food outlet which visits the centre, offering local fruit and vegetables at affordable prices.

In addition, the centre works with families to encourage more healthy choices in the community and plans to run a family-focused healthy cooking course later in the year.

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