ProVeg International’s Post

Today is International School Meals Day! And yet, access to healthy and sustainable school food is not evident in many countries, despite the EU Child Guarantee. This is why we – as member of the Europe wide #SchoolFood4Change consortium -  ask policy makers of the European Union to support the Member States in providing at least one healthy and sustainable school meal daily in all schools across Europe. Our SchoolFood4Change policy brief, which was presented at the OpenFoodConference, organised by the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council in Leuven (Belgium), explains how we can recognize every child's right to healthy, sustainable food and food education: https://lnkd.in/e5adF6S6.

🥗 Access to healthy and sustainable school food is essential for fostering equitable educational opportunities and promoting sustainable development. This International School Meals Day, we examine the significant impact of school meal programs on student health, academic performance and social equity. SEI Tallinn's involvement through the SchoolFood4Change project highlights the importance of strengthening policies in Estonia and the EU to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to nutritious meals. This initiative not only aims to alleviate hunger but also to improve educational outcomes and support sustainable development goals. Learn more about these efforts ▶️ https://buff.ly/3Pl0UXA #InternationalSchoolMealsDay #ISMD2024 #SchoolFood4Change #SF4C #SchoolFood #SchoolMeals #SustainableDevelopment #equity

We're excited to see #CleanCooking included in the School Meals Coalition’s new white paper, “School Meals and #FoodSystems: Rethinking the Consequences for #Climate, Environment, #Biodiversity, and Food Sovereignty.” Did you know: Over 85% of schools in low-income countries rely on inefficient charcoal or wood stoves. The burden of fuel collection for schools typically falls on children and their parents. School feeding programs should integrate clean cooking solutions to ensure that children do not have to skip meals or school due to a shortage of fuelwood. Learn more about clean cooking and food security in CCA’s latest report: https://ow.ly/3HKv50Qknl4 Read the white paper: https://ow.ly/J5NC50Qknl7

LEARN MORE ABOUT HUNGER AND FOOD INSECURITY "Created for students, by students, Zot Bites is a notification system that invites people to collect leftover food after a catered event on campus: Those who opt in receive a text alerting them where and when the food is available. The program is the work of the UC system’s Global Food Initiative fellows, part of an effort to address both the problem of food waste from UC campuses and an ever-growing concern among students across the country: food insecurity. Zot Bites was inspired by similar initiatives in California, such as the Food 4 UCSF Students app and Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Bites, to tackle an emerging crisis one meal at a time. During the fall 2020 semester, the first full term during the pandemic, nearly 30 percent of students at four-year colleges and universities were struggling with food insecurity, according to a study conducted by Temple University. For those at two-year colleges, the number was even higher –– with more than 40 percent of students reporting that their access to adequate food was limited or unreliable. The crisis may now be even worse, as the government has ended the pandemic-era SNAP benefits that helped an estimated 3 million students by loosening the eligibility requirements. As a result, many students will lose the monthly food allowances that they have relied on for years — and some have argued that reverting back to the old requirements may deter prospective students from enrolling at all.  Food insecurity — defined as the lack of consistent access to enough healthy food — is often under-examined and under-addressed in the population of college students. The cause behind this crisis is complex, involving factors like increased education costs, rising living expenses and economic shifts in the college environment. Mirroring the significant disparities in food access more broadly, first-generation students, students from low-income households, students of color and disabled students are at higher risk of becoming food insecure than their classmates. The impacts extend far beyond the lack of access to nutritious food. To make their food dollars stretch, students often choose cheaper processed foods like boxed and packaged items, and overconsumption of added sugars, trans fats and refined grains means food-insecure students are at higher risk of developing obesity." #foodsecurity #foodinsecurity #foodsecurity #foodaccess #fooddignity #foodwaste #foodwastereduction #universities #foodsystem #foodsystems #sustainablecampuses #sustainablefood #sustainablefoodsystems #foodaccess #foodequity #obesity #ncds #noncommunicablediseases #diseaseprevention #publichealth #humanhealth #foodpolicy #foodrecovery #campusdining

Link to an evaluation, which captured the impact and feasibility of Pick of the Crop, found it had influenced positive change at schools, with students’ attitudes toward eating veggies and fruit improving and access to consuming fresh produce two or more times daily also increasing.   The evaluation, released last December, focused on the implementation in schools throughout 2022. It determined participating schools recorded an increase in the number of students keen to eat veggies and fruit, which was sustained the longer the school remained involved in Pick of the Crop.  Lessons learned from the evaluation include:   • Pick of the Crop is feasible and continues to achieve immediate impacts in participating schools • Regional coordinators are a critical resource and enabler of its success and  • Participating schools demonstrated resilience to external factors such as weather events, short staffing and COVID-19. https://lnkd.in/gkU_Pn69

🌱 SchoolFood4Change project to make school meals both tasty and healthy for kids and the planet!🌱 The Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Center (SEI Tallinn), along with Tallinn City and Viimsi Municipality in Estonia, have teamed up with partners from 12 European countries for the SchoolFood4Change project! 🍏📚 The project emphasizes the vital role of food in education, aiming to engage everyone in building sustainable dietary habits, as well as reducing food waste, from students to community members.🥦💡 The goal is to integrate food into every aspect of school life—principles, management, curriculum, and dining experience—to foster a culture of sustainability. 🏫🌿 At the heart of the food culture is the procurement of sustainable and healthy school meals. Recently, a guide was created to support schools and local governments in adopting eco-friendly food approaches and promoting healthy eating habits, please check! https://lnkd.in/d-h9g9Xv 📝🥗 🌟 #SchoolFood4Change #SustainableSchoolMeals #HealthyEating 🥕📚

Today, as we observe the International Day of Education, we highlight the importance of our school policies in helping to build a solid foundation for fostering balanced diets in Europe.   Here's what our school commitment is about:   🔹 We DON’T sell any of our #SoftDrinks in EU primary schools   🔹 The ONLY soft drinks we sell in EU secondary schools are low- and no-calorie   🔎 Check out our latest compliance rates 👉 https://lnkd.in/etX7St2C        #DoingOurPart #EUCodeOfConduct

California Leads the Way in Low-Carbon School Meals Students returning to schools across the U.S. have found expanded plant-based options in their cafeterias, but California is raising the bar with an array of recent initiatives. “In 2021, Josh Goddard came across some sobering news. That year’s United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report showed that globally, meat and dairy production is responsible for fueling nearly a third of human-caused methane gas emissions. The IPCC assessment “was pretty unforgiving,” says the director of nutrition services for Southern California’s Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), in making “strong connections between our food systems and climate change.” Methane is a short-lived but potent greenhouse gas that scientists say has driven roughly 30 percent of Earth’s warming since pre-industrial times. “Kids and lentils aren’t good bedfellows.” But creativity and the right investments “can make something like lentil piccadillo rather special.” The news was “an impetus for action” for Goddard, who runs one of the state’s largest school meal programs serving upwards of 10 million lunches, breakfasts, snacks, and suppers annually with more than 80 percent of students eligible for free and reduced-priced meals. With blessing from administrators and the community, Santa Ana schools started offering an entirely plant-based lunch menu once a week. Milk is still available daily per U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) requirement. The revised offerings, which include creative dishes such as tempeh tacos and buffalo cauliflower wraps, have helped reduce SAUSD’s climate impact, Goddard says. His EPA-guided calculations estimate a district-wide reduction in emissions by about 1,300 tons a year. Santa Ana’s efforts, however, are not unique. Across the nation, students returning to school have found expanded plant-based options in their cafeteria offerings. But in California, an array of recent progressive school food initiatives has helped raise the bar on making lunch menus not just more climate-friendly, but healthier and more inclusive, by appealing to a greater range of dietary preferences and restrictions—as well as palettes.” #schoolmeals #schoolfeeding #schoolfeedingprograms #climate #climatechange #climatecrisis #climateaction #climatesolutions #foodsystems #foodsystemtransformation #sustainablefoodsystems #plantbasedmeals #plantbased #foodpolicy #planetaryhealth #publichealth #diversity #dietitians

🚨 The funding gap in school meals between England and the rest is alarming. Expecting schools to deliver quality meals with less is unfair. Let's demand equitable support for #everychildeverytime. It's time to bridge the gap! 🍎💪 Join LACA - The School Food People and its members in urging political parties to prioritise our children's nutrition with a minimum funding level of £3.00 per meal (index linked). #thesumsdontaddup #SchoolFoodStandards https://lnkd.in/enRytFcT

Food security is defined as the ability to have reliable access to healthy, affordable food and is a major issue on college campuses. Approximately 1 in 3 college students are food insecure, and the struggle to make ends meet leaves many having to choose between utilities, housing, tuition, textbooks, and groceries. Food insecurity on college campuses is a particularly complex problem to solve because it touches on many of the challenges facing our food system at large. These include economically, sustainable, and equitable food procurement, as well as cultural and socioeconomic concerns, such as food that is both culturally and dietarily appropriate. This back-to-school season, learn more about food insecurity on college campuses and explore dozens of newly-curated resources, stories, and tools here: https://lnkd.in/gMby3b8w #CollegeCampuses #BackToSchool #FoodSecurity #CollegeStudents