School of Fish: The MSC End of Term Report on sustainable fish in schools 2015

1. Marine Stewardship Council Global Impacts Report 20151
School of fish
MSC End of Term Report on sustainable
fish in primary schools

2. Marine Stewardship Council School of fish 2
When we started revising the School
Food Standards, fish was always going
to be a key component. The evidence is
clear: eating fish, and particularly oily
fish, is good for developing brains and
bodies. But while feeding children well
today, we also need to protect their
future. That’s why we recommended
sustainably-sourced, MSC certified fish.
Buying MSC certified fish is a simple way for
school caterers to ensure the fish they serve is
sustainable, and to communicate that
commitment to pupils and parents. It helps
make the public sector part of something
bigger - a wave of change for the better that is
taking place in fisheries around the world.
When combined with the MSC’s Fish and Kids
programme it not only ensures that children
eat sustainably, but helps schools teach our
children to be good custodians of the world
they will inherit.
This report highlights the impact of the School
Food Plan on the sourcing of fish in schools. It
shows a strong start, though there is still a
long way to go. Thousands more school pupils
eating sustainable fish, supporting
sustainable fishing and learning how to
protect the marine environment: that’s a
fantastic legacy to leave our children.
Since its launch in 2006, over 3,000
schools have joined the MSC’s Fish and
Kids programme. Fish and Kids is the
MSC’s education programme, working
primarily in England and bringing
sustainable seafood to children through
education and school meals and it fits
into the whole school approach to food
and sustainable development.
The programme teaches children about the
importance of protecting the marine
environment and explains the journey of our
seafood from the sea to their plates. At the
same time, it provides an independent menu
certification, showing that the fish they are
eating for school meals comes from a
sustainable source.
In the first End of Term Report, in 2014, it was
clear that there was a wide range in adoption
of MSC labelled fish on school menus. The
North and Midlands LEAs performed
particularly well, with the South East lagging
behind and the South West performing poorly.
This year’s report comes in the wake of the
School Food Standards which became
mandatory in January. The Standards
recommend sourcing MSC certified seafood.
These are reflected in strong commitments
from education sector caterers Alliance in
Partnership and ISS Education.
The result is an 18% increase in the number of
MSC certified schools with 572 schools joining
the programme. This was led by the South
East region, adding 209 certified schools and
the Midlands continuing their drive for
sustainable seafood sourcing with a further
164 schools joining their already high-
performing area. The formerly poorly
performing South West region is also making
progress, gaining MSC certification for 47 of
their schools. The increase means that one in
six primary schools are now serving certified
sustainable fish to their pupils.
While this is a significant proportion, it still
leaves significant room for improvement and
the majority of schools are not providing
information on the sustainability or
provenance of their fish.
Introduction from
Henry Dimbleby
Introduction
from the MSC

3. Marine Stewardship Council School of fish3
ISS Education has achieved MSC
certifications for over 400 schools
across the UK, with the majority of
these in London and the South East.
“We’re really proud to have gained the
MSC Chain of Custody for so many of
our customers and are eager to
continue to introduce the MSC scheme
to more of the schools we serve. The
award helps us to promote the use of
sustainably sourced fish in our menus
and to spread the word about the
importance of making sustainable
choices around food more broadly.”
Mark Davies, Director of Education, ISS Facility
Services Education
Amy Teichman, Quality and Nutrition Manager at the
Alliance in Partnership Group of Companies
comments on the importance MSC certification for
the business:
“We encourage our schools to promote
sustainability throughout the menu and
using MSC only fish was a goal from the
beginning. We’ve been working with the
MSC in schools for the past few years
and when we started, there wasn’t much
variety available. While we had been
serving some MSC fish in all our schools,
we couldn’t find enough choice to make
all of our products MSC. However, in the
last few years, the variety has increased
tenfold and it has made it easier for us to
make all of our fish MSC and to bring all
of our schools to this standard. Now all
schools within the AiP Group of
Companies are certified MSC.”
MSC certified schools in England
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4. Marine Stewardship Council School of fish 4
Salmon leading the charge
The School Food Standards and a range of new
products have seen wild salmon leaping onto school
menus. High in long-chain Omega 3 fatty acids,
wild-caught salmon, mostly from Alaskan and Canadian
fisheries, meets the oily fish requirement of the
Standards and has proved a popular choice both with
LEAs and pupils.
@MSCintheUK
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© Marine Stewardship Council 2015
www.fishandkids.org
James Rasor, Product and Quality Assurance Director at
Crown Foods Ltd explains,
“Oily fish is a fantastic food source, especially for
growing minds and bodies, but feedback showed
that such options can sometimes be unappetising
for younger palates due to the strong taste
compared to white fish alternatives. To combat
this, we launched MSC Salmon Fillets Vinegar
infused Tempura Batter and MSC Tempura
Battered Salmon & Sweet Potato Fishcake
products. Both high in Omega 3, we have paired
prime MSC certified salmon fillet with innovative
flavours to provide flavours that are attractive to
a younger audience whilst still offering the
wealth of natural properties found in oily fish.
With a large customer base around the country,
we felt it imperative that our lines carry MSC
certification to help promote a future full of fish.
Being able to pass this message on to customers
and children is fantastic and, since launching
last year, over 2 million of these products have
been enjoyed already in school menus.”
Schools certified since July 2014
by region
London 94
North 58
Midlands 164
South East 209
South West 47
Total 572
17%
24
(one in six) of all state funded primary schools are now
MSC certified (compared with 14% from last year)
new products available
for education catering
(9 of which are salmon)