Family attractions in the UK are serving more British meat and local ingredients despite battling rising costs and staff shortages, according to a Soil Association investigation.
The food and farming charity has ranked 16 of the UK’s leading attractions in a new league table after an army of “secret diner” parents helped to assess the quality of food on offer.
The Out to Lunch campaign found that nine of the attractions are sourcing local ingredients and that half of them are sourcing 100% British meat compared to a third in 2018, when the investigation last visited.
Good examples of local sourcing included Cornish meat at the Eden Project, a large variety of Scottish produce at both Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Kelvingrove, and Chester Zoo won points for sourcing meat and dairy from Cheshire and the Ribble Valley.
Soil Association head of food policy Rob Percival said: “We are really pleased to see visitor attractions supporting local, British farmers. Some of these attractions are really leading the way in sourcing ingredients that are not only British but produced on their doorsteps in their local area. It is particularly encouraging to see this when we know caterers deal with rising prices, staff shortages and supply chain disruption. It is a testament both to the efforts of the attractions, and to the quality of British products.”