QUALITY must take precedence over cost efficiency when it comes to supplying food produce to primary schools across Scotland.

That was a key message delivered by Scottish Conservative MSP, Brian Whittle, at an event at Dumfries House, last week. The South of Scotland representative insisted that Holyrood was ready to support a move towards prioritising local food sourcing in primary schools, but progress in this direction is slow and industry intervention is needed to find a solution.

He said bringing together individuals involved with producing, procuring and promoting Scottish food and drink was needed and now was a time for better collaboration across the industry.

“Everyone agrees procuring food locally on to our schools tables is something we all want to see happening – to promote a healthier nation which also supports the local economy. I wanted to gather together a group of individuals who all possess a real knowledge and understanding of the way the food and drink industry works and encourage them to recognise and share in the barriers that we face and come up with a plan,” Mr Whittle explained.

“This is not a political event as it is something all parties in Holyrood agree with, but this movement must be industry led as they are ones with the knowledge and ability to make a difference.”

He chose Dumfries House as the location for the meeting as East Ayrshire is leading the way in local food procurement for schools. The East Ayrshire Council had made a move away from cost efficiency to quality over the past 15 years, working with local farms to source produce in to schools – which has in turn invested in the local economy, reduced carbon emissions and prioritised high quality food to pupils at a key stage in their development.

“The main thing we are addressing today is how we can get our fresh, local, high welfare food on to school menus and to get food education firmly on the agenda,” said East Ayrshire council representative Andrew Kennedy.

“Feeding our pupils is about more than refuelling, it’s about getting good quality food on their plates. in 2005 we started working with five to six local farms to source food to a pilot school which was a great success - the council then agreed to roll this out in the local area.

“It’s now 14 years since we started and all of our food produce comes from Ayrshire, bar one dry goods supplier from Glasgow. Yes, it does cost more,” he added. “We spend more on food than other local authorities, but this wasn’t about delivering the cheapest price but looking at the quality of food and the wider health and environment benefits it provided.

“This is going to be the biggest challenge for most local authorities – developing a sense of value that food is beyond just a price,” he anticipated.

Discussion at the meeting acknowledged barriers involving challenging documentation that producers need to fill out to be considered for local procurement. UK market development director for Scotland Food and Drink, Lucy Husband, stated: “There is a renewed focus on public procurement in Scotland but more needs to be done to encourage individual councils to embrace these discussions and also to enthuse local suppliers to get on board – as so many are deterred by the logistics of the issue.

“More support is needed to make sure there is better communication between suppliers as often logistics don’t marry up and there can be a breakdown in the supply chain.

Chairman of the Royal Highland Education Trust, George Lawrie, added: “There is a need for centralised food hubs which can help distribute local food – as opposed to farmers having to arrange logistics to cater for seven or eight different schools.”

NFU Scotland president, Andrew McCornick, highlighted that more needs to be done to protect primary producers: “There are people willing to supply locally but ideally we need to allow more margin for producers as there are currently a lot of links in the chain and damage is being done at the primary end. Public procurement in to primary schools is extremely important and something we need to be working towards but there is a conversation that needs to be had about local procurement full stop,” he urged.