The session School Meals Procurement: Beyond the lunch tray: Building sustainable school food systems, co-organized by ICLEI Europe, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the School Food for Change project during the MUFPP Global Forum (University of Milan, 16 October 2025), explored how schools can drive healthier, fairer, and climate-friendly food systems.
The session began with two keynote on the transformative power of sustainable school meals, followed by two interactive roundtables highlighting city-led innovations and the importance of monitoring impacts, highlighting how school canteens can promote social inclusion, public health and sustainability.
The Power of School Meals
The first keynote, delivered by Amalia Ochoa from ICLEI Europe, emphasized the central role of school meals in shaping healthier, fairer and more sustainable food systems across Europe. With over 90 million children reached across Europe alone through public education, school food represents one of the largest areas of public food procurement and a powerful tool for public health prevention.
The speaker highlighted rising childhood obesity rates, growing social vulnerability among families and the rapid decline of small farms as interconnected challenges that school food policies can help address. In this context, the School Food for Change project was presented as a holistic initiative operating across 18 cities and regions in 12 EU countries. Built on sustainable procurement, whole-school food approaches and healthy, planetary-friendly diets, the project has already involved over 400 schools and reached more than 600,000 children. Its long-term ambition is to establish a European standard guaranteeing every child access to a healthy school meal, ideally free of charge.
Following this, Edwina Hughes from the World Resources Institute presented the Cool Food initiative, which supports cities, schools and institutions in reducing food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Through the Cool Food Pledge, around 90 member organizations—representing 2.8 billion meals served—commit to cutting food emissions by 25% by 2030. Cities, largely through school meal procurement, are leading the way, achieving a 40% reduction in emissions per plate by rebalancing menus: significantly reducing beef and lamb, lowering other animal-based products and increasing plant-based options. The approach focuses on gradual shifts rather than eliminating meat, showing how school food can drive measurable climate action at scale.
Cities Leading the Change
Drawing on the work of SchoolFood4Change, the first panel, hosted by Anastasia Lundqvist (SF4C Project and WWF Sweden), showcased how city-led initiatives are driving meaningful change—from policy shifts to innovative partnerships and procurement models.
In Leuven (Belgium), explained Ellen Vantomme, schools responded to rising child hunger after COVID-19 by introducing breakfast trolleys, fruit-sharing programs, and a pioneering vegetarian catering model that supports local farmers.
In Mbale (Uganda), Wilbur Kakaire described a journey from parent-funded to government-supported school meals. Through school gardens and community engagement, Mbale now aims to reach 80% of pupils, proving that inclusive feeding programs can strengthen both education and resilience.
Estelle Jacq from Lyon (France) showcased how the city turned lunch into a learning moment. A “School Catering Handbook,” co-created with 80 canteen staff, helps children explore new foods, reduce waste, and build social skills at the table.
Tracking success towards healthy, sustainable school meals
The second panel, hosted by Edwina Hughes, explored how cities can use procurement strategies and data to promote healthy and sustainable food.
From Copenhagen (Denmark), Betina Bergman Madsen illustrated how procurement—often seen as bureaucratic—can be revolutionary. By embedding sustainability in contracts, the city now serves 88% organic meals and has removed beef and lamb from most menus to lower emissions. She leads the European Food Procurement Officer Network, linking 17 countries to share best practices and align public purchasing with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Meanwhile, Joana Aguiar from Matosinhos (Portugal) described how her city serves 17,000 students with meals grounded in the Mediterranean diet. Through strict procurement standards, community feedback, and continuous nutritional monitoring.
Sarah Bruinaars from Ghent (Belgium) reminded participants that success isn’t just about carbon savings or nutrition data—it’s also about joy. Ghent conducts taste surveys with children, analyzing what they truly like. The city’s data-driven yet human-centered strategy has already reduced its food emissions by 38%.
Common Threads and Takeaways
During the session, a common vision emerged: cities are proving that systemic change can start on a plate. By combining procurement, education, and participation, they are making healthy, sustainable food both accessible and appealing. Resources such as School Food for Change’s triple-approach framework and the Cool Food Pledge offer tools to measure progress and inspire others.
From Leuven’s breakfast trolleys to Copenhagen’s procurement policies and Mbale’s gardens, the message was clear: when food policies align with care, culture, and climate, even the simplest school lunch can nourish the planet.
Special thanks to Gaia Donghi, Mufpp Intern from the University of Milan, for writing this article.
