Do you know a veggie care catering hero?

We’re on the lookout for 2021’s rising star in vegan and vegetarian care catering.

Here at VfL we think that care caterers who make a special effort to create delicious and nutritious vegan and vegetarian meals deserve special recognition.

This year marks the fifth VfL Awards for Excellence in Veg*n Care catering. With more vegans and vegetarians moving into residential care every year, this annual award recognises those who are pioneering the way in modern care catering.

Last year’s star-studded ceremony saw comedian, actor, writer and film producer Dave Spikey hosting a virtual event streamed live via Facebook and YouTube. The event included inspiring talks covering best practice when catering for vegans and vegetarians in a care setting.

Gary McGurk (above) of Primrose Bank Care Home, was winner of Most Innovative Veggie Dish in 2020.

Celebs that kindly gave their time to read out nominations and announce winners were Rose Elliot MBE. Peter Egan, Gary Webster and Wendy Turner Webster.

First launched in 2016, the Annual Awards highlight the importance of catering well for older vegetarians and vegans. We recently surveyed 1,000 care homes to find out how many residents are vegan or vegetarian. Since the survey was last commissioned in 2014, the number of vegans in residential care has increased by a whopping 167%!

With growing numbers of vegetarians being supported by the care sector, it is no surprise that news of the awards has been positively received by care organisations. Articles about the awards have been published by the NACC, Public Sector Catering, Care Home Catering, Hospitality Assured and many more.

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the demand for top-notch veggie care catering.

The categories for this year’s awards are:

• Veggie Care Chef of the Year. We wanted to find the care chef who is making the tastiest meals for older vegans or veggies.
• Veggie Wholesaler of the Year. Meals on Wheels? Food delivery service? Retailer supplying the care sector? Let’s celebrate that company that makes veggie meals easy and practical for everyone.
• Most Innovative Veggie Dish. We wanted someone to send us one magnificent recipe – something that is original, and that we can recommend to care caterers around the UK.
• The Beulah Charity Trust Special Recognition Award. This is for that special someone who strives to make the UK a better place for older vegans and vegetarians. This could be a volunteer, a resident, a staff member or anyone pursuing this objective.

To enter, all we need from you is a quick and easy 200 words telling us who you are nominating and why, to be emailed over to veggiehero@vegetarianforlife.org.uk. Please include photos if possible. Be quick though, because the deadline for entries is fast approaching. We need all submissions to be made by Friday 19 November.

Visit our Veggie Heroes Past Winners page to see who has been honoured since the awards were first launched.