Environmental actions in food services are done with good planning and centralization
Finnish school food turns 75 this year, and the food services of the city of Äänekoski celebrated a celebration week in its honor. Finnish food is served at Äänekoski's schools and daycare centers, and these days the environmental and climate aspects are strongly taken into account in the food.
The food services of the city of Äänekoski does numerous environmental and climate actions in its everyday life with its own activity, ingenuity, by centralizing operations and through a joint procurement agreement. The industry is very active in promoting environmental issues. From last year to 2022, the carbon footprint of food services' total food purchases has dropped dramatically.
- We have highly professional and motivated staff who want to influence things, food service manager Raija Sällinen thank.
- One of the most important environmental aspects in the city's food services is joint procurement and tenders. Through joint procurement, e.g. transports to an absolute minimum, because the different raw materials are gathered in the same load, says Sällinen.
In tenders for joint procurement, emphasis is placed on e.g. domesticity of foodstuffs, state nutritional recommendations and the Heart Mark. Äänekoski's food services use domestic potatoes, vegetables, berries, meat and berries, and the bread comes from domestic rye.
- The orders of the service kitchens at schools and daycare centers are reviewed daily, which makes combining food deliveries more efficient and reduces extra driving, food service manager Kirsi Lähteenmäki says.
The energy and water saving perspective is brought up regularly and a related checklist has been drawn up together with the staff. In addition, modern high-quality equipment, eco programs, automatic cleaning and equipment training help to reduce consumption.
- The washing and cleaning agents in use have been changed to more environmentally friendly products. All extra substances have been eliminated and the product selection harmonized, says Lähteenmäki.
Food services also sort all waste, which is possible.
Good planning is already effective climate action
- Reducing food waste already starts with production and menu and recipe planning. Also, the theme lists and days that change according to the harvest season and the holidays of the calendar years help to utilize domestic raw materials, Sällinen says.
- From an environmental perspective, good and proactive menu planning plays a significant role when ordering huge quantities of food. We make two five-week rotating menus, and we can react quickly if the situation demands it. We carefully plan what is offered on any day of the week, but you always have to have a "plan b", says Lähteenmäki.
Schools and kindergartens order daily meals every week, and the food is made at Ateriapalvelukeskus Lipstika according to the orders. If necessary, orders are adjusted according to absences, for example, so that there are as few star dishes as possible. Schools and kindergartens can also flexibly use each other's surplus to make up for their own deficit.
Ruokapalvelut hands over any star food to partners Ilona ry, Suolahti's unemployed and Äänekoski's rehabilitative work activities, who pass it on to those who need it. Tähderuoka is handed over from the service kitchens of the upper secondary school and Koulunmäki and Suolahti unified schools in the largest units.
- With good planning, the amounts of star food are very small in proportion to the amount of food to be prepared, Sällinen says.
- We write down the amount of star food every day and that is part of our self-monitoring. We also regularly collect feedback and wishes from children and young people, Lähteenmäki says.
For more information:
Food service manager Raija Sällinen, 040 705 8460, raija.sallinen@aanekoski.fi
Food service manager Kirsi Lähteenmäki, 0400 115 510, kirsi.lahteenmaki@aanekoski.fi
News published, modified 1.12.2023 at 10:09