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Roadmap for developing sustainable catering

In a nutshell

This tool explains the process towards the development of a roadmap for sustainable school catering. Public catering and the foods they provide are increasingly becoming part of environmental policy and may also contribute to the environmental objectives of local governments. Moreover, public interest in the sustainability of food production, as well as the provision of tasty and healthy school food, is growing. It is therefore important that the principles of and pathways towards school and kindergarten catering are defined and agreed upon at the local government level. Organising high-quality and nutritious meals in city-managed schools and kindergartens should be a strategic process with a targeted and systematic approach that can be compiled into a roadmap.

Necessary Steps

Assessment of the current situation:

  • Summarise the outcomes of recent and ongoing projects and other initiatives contributing to sustainable catering in educational institutions.
  • Estimate the demand for and the supply of sustainable catering.


Needs assessment for achieving more sustainable school catering:

  • Evaluate the needs in the supporting organisational structure and resources within the city procurement system as well as the education department (e.g. existing capacity and competencies, need for training in green public procurement, etc.).
  • Identify areas in which schools need support and help, including in verifying the fulfilment of environmental criteria related to school catering.


Setting goals and targets:

  • Define the goal(s) for the reduction of the environmental and climate impact of healthy and tasty school food in the dialogue with experts on food, nutrition,and health and sustainability, as well as public procurement. Integrate the goal(s) into the city's overall ambition for sustainability and green public procurement.
  • Agree on measurable targets to reach the goal(s) step by step.


Developing an action plan:

  • Plan activities to achieve the targets. Pay particular attention to stakeholder involvement (schools, parents, caterers, procurers, etc.) in implementing sustainable catering. Place emphasis on food-related education and support capacity-building of school catering stakeholders (caterers, menu planners, cooks, etc.).
  • Link the action plan with ongoing projects/initiatives to ensure consistency and exploit synergies for enhanced impact.
  • Allocate budget and resources.
  • Assign a coordination team that takes responsibility.

More Issues To Consider

  • The roadmap for sustainable catering in educational institutions can be developed as a thematic roadmap, as part of a strategy for public catering, or can be integrated into a broader framework strategy, such as the action plan for carbon neutrality or education.
  • It is very important that the city has a vision and understanding of where it is heading in terms of public catering services.

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