Sogndal Folk High School has become Debio certified!
Hege-Beathe with Ole Karsten
On Thursday, March 14th, we received some good news! Sogndal Folk High School Debio was certified with the Bronze Label for catering! We are the first folk high school in the county and the first company in Sogndal Municipality to receive this certification! It is our chef Hege-Beathe Weum-Andersen who has been working towards this since she started with us in the fall of 2017. At the beginning of 2018, the kitchen at Sogndal Folk High School decided to focus on taste, health and sustainability in its work. One of the main goals was to be able to offer the students proper food made from pure ingredients. Choosing organic became a natural part of this work. This resulted in an application to Debio for certification of the catering at the school. On March 14th, we received a letter in the mail; the kitchen at Sogndal Folk High School met the requirements and receives Debio's Bronze Label! This means that at least 15% of the food and drinks served at the school are organic. Principal Ole Karsten is very excited about this and thinks it is good that the school uses organic food and drinks in the kitchen. Now the principal's next goal is for the school to receive the Silver Label for serving, which means at least 50% organic.
We notice that students and future students are concerned about sustainability and the environment. This makes it extra fun to work with sustainability in the kitchen as well. Among other things, we have replaced plastic bags and food paper with compostable paper bags, all waste is sorted at source and we are continuously working to reduce and limit food waste. For example, we have introduced a special sustainability day where only leftovers that would otherwise have gone to waste are served for lunch. The rest of the meals that day are also completely meat-free. Another part of the sustainable turn has been to cut meat consumption. At the same time, the kitchen offers vegetarian and vegan food for those who want it as an alternative to meat or fish.
We are incredibly proud of our kitchen crew and the work they do in the kitchen!
All photos of employees were taken by research fellow Amalie Ullenes.