The Sails Café at Falmouth Marine School has become the latest of the corporation’s student and staff dining areas to be presented with a CHEFS (Cornwall Healthier Eating and Food Safety) Award.

The café has been awarded the prestigious gold award in recognition of its commitment to provide fresh, healthy meals, sourcing local produce. Launched in 2005 at the Eden Project, the CHEFS award is given by the food standards officers at Cornwall Council working in partnership with the Health Promotion Service and Eatsome Programme, both of which are part of NHS Cornwall. The award is made up of three levels consisting bronze, silver and gold.

Port health officer Carol Thorogood, who presented the award, said: “The team demonstrated the highest possible standards of food hygiene, offering healthy options and using fresh, local, Cornish ingredients in their food. It’s a fantastic achievement.”

The aim of the scheme is to reduce food borne infections, reduce levels of obesity, improve local food sustainability, grow the local economy, support the Cornish food industry and recognise the hard work and high standards of those establishments with the award.

Catering manager Trish Kearney said: “I am really proud of the team. They have worked really hard in order to gain the gold CHEFS Award. It demonstrates our commitment to serving a great menu of healthy options as well as supporting local businesses by sourcing fresh, seasonal produce.”

The kitchen was praised for the wide range of healthy meals available and the high standards found throughout. This was supported by the level of awareness of health and hygiene regulations displayed by staff.

“We are very proud that Falmouth Marine School can now demonstrate the proven quality of the food we serve,” said Justin Olosunde, head of Falmouth Marine School. “It is really important for us to make sure that our students and staff have a good range of healthy food available during their day and that we support our local businesses in sourcing that food. Getting this award shows the commitment and hard work of staff to embrace this ethos.”