Cordia’s Burns Suppers took place in schools all over Glasgow Schools across Scotland put on the Burns Day school lunch last week. However, schools from 11 Scottish councils all decided to hold the Burns Supper on Tuesday 27th January and made it the biggest Burns Supper in Scotland. Together the schools served the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties to over 100,000 pupils. The Burns Day is the first event in a 12 month promotion that will highlight Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink. The Government-led initiative has been created by Event Scotland and Visit Scotland, and will spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s natural larder and quality produce to our people and our visitors.

The school meals service has been tasked with creating a series of events to highlight the quality of Scottish products that are being used in the school meals sector.Alistair McIntyre, Depute National Chair of ASSIST FM, the association for Scottish Local Authority caterers stated, ‘We see this as a fantastic opportunity to talk about local provenance within our sector and to ‘start’ a campaign that will be relevant for many years. Themes for the 12 months will vary in some schools but overall the schools will be following the themes of the Year of Food and Drink itself. These will be;

January – Traditional Foods

February – The Love of Food

March – Delicious Meats

April – Award Winning Food

May – Water of Life (Highlighting the benefits of hydration and water)

June – Scottish Berries & Fruits

July – Focus on External Catering – Cafes, Leisure centres, etc

August – Delicious Dairy – Yoghurts, milk and cheeses

September – Scottish School Cook of Year and Best of Scottish Food

October – Sustainable Shores

November – Hearty & Heartwarming (Super healthy soups, broths and stews)

December – Local Foods for ChristmasSchools from Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire took part in the Burns Supper day on The 27th.

The ASSIST FM Conference 2019 also saw the end of Keith Breasley’s tenure as Chair of ASSIST FM, with the appointment passed on to Vice-Chair Jayne Jones of Argyll & Bute Council at the AGM. Gerry Donnachie of South Lanarkshire Council was then appointed to the position as Vice-Chair.

Commenting on her appointment, Jayne Jones said: “Over the past two years, Keith has worked very hard on behalf of Scottish Local Authorities, at a time when there has been significant change across our services. He has represented our views with the development of revised Food and Drinks Standards, the implementation of free meals for early years pupils and many other matters, and has done this with great sensitivity and by consulting with ASSIST FM members. I’d like to thank him for all of his commitment and collaborative working.

I’m looking forward to representing ASSIST FM in the coming two years of further change, and to doing so in partnership with our members. I’m also looking forward to working with other National bodies to further the representation of public sector catering and FM services as best as I can.”