The Arboretum Café has received the Healthier Options Award after pledging to make healthy changes to its menu and food preparation.
It has become the latest member of the Lincolnshire wide scheme after introducing healthier options to the business in the park on Monks Road, Lincoln.
Sharron Emms from the Arboretum Café said: "We are delighted to receive this award. People are so surprised how tasty our food is and yet so much healthier. We have been working for a long time on changing our menus to provide healthier food and when lockdown is over we will be looking to start our healthy eating course again."
Councillor Sue Woolley, Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison & Community Engagement, said: "Healthier Options is about designing recipes and menus giving people more choice to enjoy tasty and healthy food. It's already benefitting children in the area and will help educate them about the importance of good, healthy food. We would like to congratulate and thank the Arboretum Cafe for pledging to offer healthier options."
The free scheme, delivered in partnership between the county council and district councils in Lincolnshire, encourages food businesses and restaurants to make changes to their menus that are well balanced and tasty, to help people eat well and healthily.
The cafe wanted to add to its menu and pledged to make a number of changes in order to become a Healthier Options member. This has included using lots of fresh vegetables in dishes, using healthier oils, natural yoghurt in place of butter and reducing salt and sugar.
The Arboretum Café is temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus restrictions. However, it has been feeding healthy nutritious take-away meals to vulnerable children in the Abbey Ward and beyond throughout the whole of this lockdown.
On busy days more than 200 healthy meals, including fruit, are being distributed. The café makes sure that each meal includes at least five different vegetables. No salt or sugar is added, so everything that the children get is going to contribute to a healthy diet.