Foodservice company Sodexo has come together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in an effort to bring a range of ‘sustainable and healthy’ school meals to the fore.
Ten meals comprise the Green & Lean range, which were conceived by WWF experts and Sodexo chefs using LiveWell dietary advice and Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow Plan for guidance. All the meals feature either meat or fish that is RSPCA Assured or MSC certified, and contain plant-based foods and wholegrains.
“It was really important that the meals we created tasted great. The idea was to make small changes to popular, well-loved dishes that would up the nutritional content and reduce the environmental impact, without dramatically changing the taste or look of the dish,” said Tom Allen, Sodexo’s executive development chef for Independent Schools.
Pilots for the meals will be run over the next couple of weeks among eight of Sodexo’s independent school contracts. If all goes well, the range will be rolled out further to more schools and universities within the company’s corporate service restaurant business.
“We have an important role to play in both helping promote heathy lifestyles and doing so in a way that is sustainable,” said Edwina Hughes, corporate responsibility manager for Sodexo UK & Ireland.
“Green & Lean is an exciting development for us. We’re finding that consumers are more and more interested in the provenance of their food and want to make ethical, sustainable and healthy choices, but of course these options still need to be tasty and appealing,” she added.
“We hope that the Green & Lean line will be successful,” concluded Nick Hughes, food sustainability advisor for WWF-UK.
