This week’s headline figures feature guaranteed access to plant-based meals for Spanish school children, a record number of chefs graduating from Baxter Storey’s Chef Academy, and warnings over the EU’s unsustainable consumption of seafood and the huge cost of extreme weather events to EU farmers.
100%. New legislation guarantees Spanish school children access to a plant-based meal every day of the week. The changes were enacted by the Spanish Council of Ministers in late April under the Royal Decree on Healthy and Sustainable School Cafeterias, an initiative that promises to transform school food throughout the country. The NGO, ProVeg International, welcomed the news and said it hoped the measure would lead to schools “offering a more varied, balanced and healthy diet to children”.
100. The number of chefs graduating this year from Baxter Storey’s Chef Academy. The caterer marked its biggest ever graduation with its first ever Obsessed Expo, a live event in East London showcasing the future of food. The Chef Academy is a 12-month farm to fork programme with a focus on training chefs in sustainable nutrition; 85% of this year’s cohort graduated with distinction.
16th May. The day on which the European Union theoretically exhausted its domestic seafood production for the year and became reliant on imported fish and other seafood products from around the world. Dubbed ‘End of Fish Day’, campaign group Seas At Risk said the day should “serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need for sustainable fishing practices and mindful consumption”.
€28bn. The loss to the EU agriculture sector each year from climate-related events like drought and flooding. The analysis comes from a new report from the European Investment Bank and the European Commission. In the worst case scenario, losses from extreme weather events could hit €90bn in 2050. Only 20-30% of climate-related losses are currently insured against.
