The gov.uk website attributed a number of improved practices among chain restaurants to the Soil Association campaign, not only pointing to the provision of healthier meals for children but also to more sustainable and transparent sourcing practices. Incorporating sustainable practices and certifications into children’s menus can provide a useful means for children to learn about where their food comes from and the impacts it has.
The Soil Association has issued a number of key asks in light of these findings:
- Serve two portions of veg with every child’s meal.
- Ensure children’s puddings are an appropriate portion size.
- Make water freely available and stop promoting sugary drinks to children.
- Offer children’s portions of adult dishes.
- Offer quality ingredients such as free range and organic on the children’s menu.
- Provide children’s cutlery as standard.
- Make breastfeeding mum's feel welcome.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) was started by industry professionals who wanted to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ to help restaurants perform better in terms of climate change, animal welfare and food waste.
When restaurants join the SRA, they undergo a Sustainability Assessment, and receive a rating of between one and three stars (top rating) depending how they score against a range of criteria in 14 areas of sustainability – community engagement, treating people fairly, healthy eating, responsible marketing, water saving, workplace resources, supply chain, waste management, energy efficiency, environmentally positive farming, local & seasonal, sustainable fish, ethical meat and dairy, and fair trade.
Four of the restaurants on our score table are rated by the SRA. These are Wahaca (1 star), Jamie’s Italian and Pizza Hut (2 stars) and Zizzi (3 stars).
The SRA runs a number of focused campaigns looking at things such as reducing waste and plastic, sourcing fish responsibly, and getting more veg onto kids’ menus. It provides resources and toolkits to help restaurants move towards more sustainable practices.
While the SRA is playing an important role in encouraging restaurants to be more sustainable and to think about certain key issues, we would not currently recommend its star rating system as a useful way to decide how to spend your money ethically. This is because, while the issues addressed are important and relevant, there is limited transparency about how these are scored.
There is clear discrepancy between how restaurants faired in our rating system compared to that of the Sustainable Restaurant Association. For example, in our table, Wahaca loses a full mark under both Animal Rights and Factory Farming and yet is commended by the SRA for its policy on meat.
Is there sustainability on the menu?