Relatives speak out against food standards in Birmingham care home

There has been some concern about quality of food in a care home in Birmingham this month.

A care home resident's relative posted pictures of their food earlier this month, causing a social media storm about the quality of food in care settings.

We understand that there are some homes that relatives feel are not meeting the food standards that we would expect for our loved ones. This is simply not good enough.

Many care caterers have limited resources in terms of both time and money, so it is easy to see how care caterers might find 'minority' diets, such as vegan, vegetarian or other specific ethical or religious dietary requirements a particular struggle.

That is what V for Life is set up to do: to make the job of care caterers easier by helping provide recipes, advice and inspiration for nutritious and – more often than not – cheaper meals.

While the high-pressure demands placed upon many care caterers means they are unlikely to be able to match the standard of Great British Bake Off, we are heartened by the commitment that our 1,274 UK List members have made to catering well and ethically for older vegetarians and vegans in their care.

Feedback from our members says they have many more nutritious and filling recipes to choose from. We want to encourage more people working in care homes to pledge their support for better, healthier and more diverse foods in care homes across the UK.

Free support and training is available from V for Life, to help make sure that nutritious, well-presented food can be attainable for people with specific dietary needs. Contact us for further information.