Nutrient-rich school meals

This solution was shared by PRE-LAUNCH RESEARCH TEAM , 14 May 2021

Print date: 21 March 2025 13:58

Description of the innovative solution

Education - adult Education - youth Information/communication Local garden Healthy diet Food literacy Diet diversity Nutritious food Double-duty action

As economies develop and children eat more meals at school, meal programmes struggle to provide nutrient-rich foods that are affordable and desirable for local communities. There is a need to provide nutrient-rich foods in school meal programmes in order to maximize physical and intellectual development of youth. This innovation includes introducing and scaling up the provision of locally sourced nutrient-rich foods during school feeding programs. The use of small fish as a nutrient-rich animal sourced food is an option as fish provide a combination of essential nutrients not found in other foods. Nutrients could also be delivered in the form of a tasty nutrient-rich power drink, which is more acceptable to children, instead of fish as a meal ingredient.

Primary users

Children & youth
Schoolstudents
Teachers

Dietary impact

This innovation will directly target and improve micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition in school-aged children by providing nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, pulses, and animal-sourced locally-produced foods. Furthermore, the timing of this innovation is beneficial as intervening on school-aged children will aid in brain-development as well as healthy diet habit forming, providing further benefits later in life.

Planetary impact

Criteria can be set for suppliers in order to comply with environmental, social, economic, and other standards. Government can adopt legislation and long-term sourcing contracts that enforce these standards, thus utilizing their power as one of the largest food buyers. Carbon footprint can be reduced through local and mainly plant-based purchases, and long term contracts with farmers can help reduce food waste.

Equity impact

The (regular) provision of nutritious meals through school meal programmes has been shown to improve vulnerable children’s diet quality, attendance and enrolment. When foods for school meals are sourced locally from smallholders the programmes can broaden their benefits to the local economy by providing a structured demand, stable markets and income opportunities.

Main concerns

The relevant actors might not understand the value of well-nourished children for the nation. Communication should be clear and proactive. Several points might hamper the implementation of nutrient-rich school meal programs such as lack of financial allocation to the programme, inadequate agri-food supply of nutrient-rich foods, youth aversion to the taste of nutrient-rich foods, the complexity of organizing this as a whole, old locked-in contracts and outdated ways of doing things, intangible and long-term benefits are less appealing to invest in. This needs to be mediated.

Supply chain segment

Educational, outreach and empowerment aspects

Maturity level

Mainstream

Criteria

Food quality Food affordability

SDG target

SDG 2: Zero Hunger SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being SDG 4: Quality Education SDG 10: Reduced Inequality SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Context

Urban Peri-urban Rural Marine/Coastal

Examples and additional resources

Real-world examples

See this solution in action in different contexts and settings around the world

Lunch Box School Feeding Initiative

Project information

Food for All Ghana School Feeding Program rebranded as the “LunchBox School Feeding Initiative” empowers vulnerable and food-insecure children build a life free of poverty by providing access to education and nutritious meals.

Ghana

modernghana.com/news/1...ed.html

Shared by PRE-LAUNCH RESEARCH TEAM

Chartwells School Dining Service

Business information

Creating one-of-a-kind foodservice programs to make sure that students leave the cafeteria happier and healthier than when they came.

United States

chartwellsk12.com

Shared by IFSS Portal Research Team

Additional resources

Learn more about this solution through studies, articles, business cases, and other information

FAO School Food and Nutrition Framework

Scientific paper

This document is the result of an extensive consultation process and describes the key
areas of work in school food and nutrition that represent FAO’s comparative advantage.

fao.org/3/ca4091en...a4091en.pdf

Shared by PRE-LAUNCH RESEARCH TEAM

Impacts of school feeding on educational and health outcomes of school-age children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries

Scientific paper

This paper outcomes a protocol through a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide a crucial evidence base for the educational and health benefits of school feeding on children and adolescents in LMICs.

systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-020-...

Shared by Glocolearning

Contacts

Connect to others working on and with this solution around the world

melissa.vargas@fao.org

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I have knowledge about this solution, contact me for more information

Shared by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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