Published: Wednesday, 7th November 2018

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is top of the 'Good Food for London' league table, for the second year running, through its work to help residents to eat healthily and combat poor nutrition.

The Council has been leading the way by tackling foods with high levels of sugar, salt and fat; encouraging breastfeeding and reducing food waste in a scheme supported by the Mayor of London.

'Good food available to all'

Councillor Averil Lekau, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Anti-Poverty, who picked up the award at a ceremony hosted by City Hall on Monday 5 November said: "The Royal Borough of Greenwich is delighted that its pioneering work to make healthy and good food available to all has been recognised.

"We will not rest on our laurels though - this year we have been tackling the worrying rise of holiday hunger by providing free and nutritious meals to kids when they are not in school and free lunches are unavailable."

Annual Good Food league table

The annual Good Food for London league table charts the progress made by London's 33 boroughs in making London's food system healthier and more sustainable. Royal Greenwich is one of only half of councils to be an accredited Living Wage employer and have Fairtrade status. Many local organisations and businesses in the borough are part of initiatives such as the Good Food in Greenwich network, the Greenwich Sugar Smart pledge scheme, the Healthier Catering Commitment and Breastfeeding Welcome.

Healthy school meals

Royal Greenwich has successfully been improving food culture within nurseries and schools too. Fourteen schools in the borough have signed up to Food for Life, meaning great work is being done to provide healthy school meals, fun lunchtimes and food education that has a positive impact on both pupils and the community.

Sixty-four schools in the borough have registered with the Healthy Schools London scheme, (sponsored by the Mayor of London), which recognises and celebrates when schools are making a difference for their pupils and helping them to make healthy choices. Gold standard Food for Life Served Here meals are served in the majority of the borough's schools - serving sustainable fish, free range, higher welfare or organic eggs, meat and dairy, and sustainable fruit and vegetables.

Work around breastfeeding has meant that Royal Greenwich has achieved full UNICEF UK Baby Friendly accreditation too.

For more information about the fantastic work that Greenwich is doing to improve the health of residents around food, healthy eating and breastfeeding and to get involved visit the Good Food in Greenwich website and Live Well Greenwich website.