Abstract
By feeding more than thirty million schoolchildren daily, the National School Lunch Program's food offerings substantially influence a contributing factor to climate change: US food production methods. Modifying school lunch nutrition standards could be a policy strategy to reduce climate change while promoting human health. To estimate how school lunches could be adjusted to encourage both outcomes, we compared the composition of school lunches with the EAT-Lancet Commission's healthy reference diet science-based benchmarks for reducing food system impacts on climate change. Analyzing more than 5,000 lunches served in the US during school year 2014-15, we found that they exceeded EAT-Lancet targets for dairy, fruit, refined grains, red meat, and starchy vegetables while containing insufficient whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and nuts. In addition, estimated food costs were higher for school lunches than for lunches meeting EAT-Lancet targets. Our findings suggest that redesigning school lunches could provide high-quality nutrition while benefiting the environment and reducing food costs.
Highlights
Food systems are among the primary contributors to climate change and account for up to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.[1]
Analyzing more than 5,000 lunches served in the US during school year 2014–15, we found that they exceeded EAT-Lancet targets for dairy, fruit, refined grains, red meat, and starchy vegetables while containing insufficient whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and nuts
The National School Lunch Program affects the agricultural industry by creating demand for and increasing the value of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodities, which are required to account for 12 percent of funding per school year.[14]
Summary
Food systems are among the primary contributors to climate change and account for up to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.[1] Current methods of food production lead to environmental degradation by overusing land and water, interfering with biodiversity, and generating harmful byproducts.[2] Most greenhouse gases emitted from food systems are a direct result of agricultural practices used for food production, including land and animal management. Preproduction activities such as fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing and postproduction activities such as transportation and food waste emit damaging greenhouse gases.[1]. Seafood and poultry are recommended in moderation, and added sugars, starchy vegetables, red meat, refined grains, and saturated fats are discouraged (see online appendix exhibit A for details on the healthy reference diet).[15]
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