Sustainable Meals Research Articles

UnDErstanding consumer food choices & promotion of healthy and sustainable Mediterranean diet and LIfestyle in Children and adolescents through behavIOUral change actionS: the DELICIOUS project

Abstract Over the last decades, the abandonment of traditional dietary patterns and engagement in unhealthy lifestyles (including poor physical activity, prolonged screen time, poor sleep behaviours) in children and adolescents has been considered an important threat for the future health of the younger generations living in the Mediterranean area and the safeguard of the environment. The DELICIOUS project aims to promote healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents by implementing activities and tools to increase the adherence to the Mediterranean diet with an attention to the environmental impacts of dietary habits. The DELICIOUS project as a single-arm, uncontrolled behavioral intervention program providing formal and non-formal education activities, development of new snacks and recipe reformulation, web/mobile app development, and physical activities to school children and adolescents in five European countries. Over 2000 families joined a preliminary survey to investigate potential determinants of adherence to a healthy diet. Children and adolescents recruited from schools in the parterns’ countries are now currently being recruited to participate to the intervention activities. A web application for school canteen and a mobile application for parents have been developed to help both schools and families to track and provide healthy and sustainable meals. The project aims to increase awareness of the nutritional benefits and the sustainability aspects of the Mediterranean Diet and to promote consumers’ empowerment through an online platform for sustainable and healthy meal planning in the school canteen.

Improving staff wellness via an after-hours healthy sustainable meals program: A general surgery residency pilot.

Healthcare worker wellness is foundational to delivering quality care. Yet, healthcare facilities often lack access to healthy and sustainable food overnight and on weekends. Healthy, low-carbon meals were provided free of charge after hours to on-call General Surgery residents at the University of British Columbia and the impact on resident well-being assessed using pre- and post-intervention surveys. Financial and time stress reduced significantly with the provision of meals (P's < .01), while emotional and physical stress levels did not change. Average meal expenses decreased from $33 to $10 (P < .001). Increasing food access on call is an impactful intervention to improve resident health and well-being.

Social gastronomy initiatives in Copenhagen, Denmark for food security, sustainability and health

Abstract Issue/problem Social gastronomy addresses the inclusion of socially marginalized communities in using food-related activities to improve the food system and nutrition. In Denmark, the project Green Sustainable Communities in a housing area in Copenhagen, aimed to develop social gastronomy methods, promote sustainable meals while empowering lower socio-economic households with sustainable, healthy, and affordable cooking practices. Interventions included community-based solutions e.g. meals, gardening, and food courses. Description of the problem Promoting sustainable diets with a low environmental impact contribute to food security and health for present and future generations (FAO, 2010). More households in affluent countries like Denmark are faced with food security challenges due to poverty and increasing expenses. Diabetes and marginalization are prevalent. The project engaged residents in food related activities to promote social wellbeing and sustainable meals. The project addressed food and garden activities relevant for specific groups of residents and ways of integrating sustainable cooking practices into community food practices. Results Solutions were local food initiatives to promote affordable, climate friendly and healthy diets using surplus food from retailers specifically fruits and vegetables combined with affordable legumes. Initiatives integrated community meals, food courses and urban gardening, increasing social wellbeing and improving nutrition. Lessons Combining people's own recipes with sustainable ones empowers and recognizes food cultures and skills related to sustainable meals. We used innovative collaboration between a housing organization and a nutrition education, where students collaborated with residents to create sustainable food practices. Key messages • Social gastronomy activities can inspire and increase access to healthy, sustainable, and affordable meals amongst low-income households. • Combining different food initiatives appeal to different target groups and inspire more sustainable and nutritious meals.

Increasing meat-free meal selections: The role of social identity salience and identity-related meal names

Avoiding meat overconsumption is good for the environment and people's health. Changing meal names represents a simple, cost-effective way of increasing meat-free meal selection in restaurants. In the past, however, this approach has shown limited effectiveness. The activation of different social identities may explain inconsistencies in prior findings and offer a powerful leverage point for influencing meal choices. We recruited participants (N = 899) who identified as “meat-eaters” for an online experiment in which they were asked to select a meal from a menu that included meat-free and meat-based burgers. We manipulated (1) social identity salience (meat-eater identity; sustainable identity; personal identity) and (2) the meal names on the menu (vegetarian name; sustainable name; neutral name). Our findings show that activating a sustainable identity significantly increases the odds of selecting a meat-free burger (22%) compared to alternative identity conditions (meat-eater identity 12%, personal identity 12%). Sustainable meal names outperform vegetarian but not neutral meal names (sustainable name 20%, vegetarian name 12%, neutral name 15%). When participants who previously selected a meat-based burger (N = 760) were limited to meat-free menu options, satisfaction and enjoyment ratings dropped steeply. This drop was significantly stronger in the meat-eater identity condition. Accounting for identity salience can lead to more targeted, improved interventions that increase meat-free meal selections by accounting for people's different social identities and the social context in which food consumption tends to occur.

Adapting innovation of information and communication technologies to climate change risks for agriculture sustainability in central Tanzania

Climate change is one of the most challenging and alarming global issues for threatening the existence of the living entities of ecosystems. Manifestations of climatic aberrations are evidently diverse and extensive in nature. Unfortunately, agricultural sector is heavily vulnerable to the vagaries of climate putting global food security at stake. Farming communities rarely have access to up-to-date weather and climate information, which hinders their ability to practice climate-smart agriculture. Extreme weather events variations in rainfall and temperature can result in reduced yields or even the destruction of crops, affecting farmers’ incomes and livelihoods. Unsustainable agricultural practices compound the problem by reducing in soil fertility and the soils’ capacity to retain water, contributing to soil erosion. This can drive ecosystem degradation and habitat loss, with a resulting loss of biodiversity. To cope up with this changing scenarios, strategic innovation is a must, especially for the highly populous developing countries like Tanzania. By virtue of the generative and systemic tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and its efficient knowledge management system, ICTs offers a great potential to record, transform and disseminate information while strengthening adaptability to the changing situations in multifarious ways. Remote sensing tools and corresponding technological innovations can ensure a sustainable meal to the ever-surging population. Climate change can only be confronted when these future ready technologies will be coupled with efficient agricultural extension protocols. This paper was an attempt to snowball adapted ICTs tools to climate change adaptation strategies as an innovating way to sustain food security and climate resilience community. The recommended tools should cover agronomic data capture, on-farm data visualization, machine learning analysis, meteorological data curation, crop modeling and seasonal climate forecasting.

Review on poultry automation using IoT and machine learning

The introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) era has revolutionized the rooster farming enterprise with the aid of using improving productivity, optimizing resources, enhancing efficiency, and lowering manufacturing costs. Rooster enterprise is an crucial enterprise for sustainable meals deliver in our country. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) envisioned that during 2020, chook meat manufacturing reached a file excessive of about 102 million metric tons. It is about over 36% of world meat manufacturing. This article presents a complete assessment of studies emphasizing AI-enabled IoT programs in rooster and explores the ability of IOT sensors with inside the discipline of rooster farming and presents insights into the destiny of automation. By tracking and efficaciously preserving the temperature, dampness, air excellent, and meals feeder with the assist of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) era and the Internet of Things we will attain good-excellent manufacturing. The implementation of IoT in rooster farming gives several benefits, such as decreased exertions costs, higher sickness management, improved yields and higher animal welfare.

Choice for sustainable meals at staff restaurants: influence of at-home food habits and food triggers

PurposeCollective catering sector is increasingly offering alternative and more sustainable food propositions, but their success rests on their reception by guests and changes induced in individual behaviors. The authors investigate food-change determinants by examining the relationship between food behavior at staff restaurants and at home.Design/methodology/approachIn an experiment over four days conducted in three staff restaurants, the authors monitored the behavioral changes and motivations of guests (n = 599) offered choices between standard and sustainable options for meat, fish, dairy products, fruit-based desserts and a vegetarian dish. The calculation of a “sustainable consumption score,” based on actual consumption at a restaurant by a subsample (n = 160) of guests gives an indication of interest for sustainable options.FindingsHigher overall choices were observed for vegetarian dishes and for the sustainable meat options rather than for the sustainable fish and desserts options, thus suggesting contrasted perceptions of the sustainable alternatives. The results revealed two profiles of consumers with contrasting scores. The “lower receptive guests” had lower commitment to sustainable food at home and at staff restaurants, while the “higher receptive guests” found in the intervention meaningful propositions for pursuing their existing at-home commitment.Research limitations/implicationsLong-term research would be required to verify whether repeated sustainable offers can break down deep-rooted choices and instill durable changes among consumers with lower commitment to sustainable food. This research contributes to the identification of some types of food that are more suitable for sustainable-oriented interventions.Practical implicationsSome food triggers are identified to further norm activation among the lower receptive profile of consumers.Originality/valueBy addressing continuities/discontinuities between at-home and at-restaurant consumption and mobilizing the “norm-activation” concept, the authors question the efficiency of sustainable food offers at work.

Smart Cuisine: Generative recipe & ChatGPT powered nutrition assistance for sustainable cooking

Smart Cuisine is an innovative system that harnesses the latest AI technology to revolutionize the way we approach meal preparation and cooking. By offering innovative features such as ingredient proportion calculation, AI-generated recipe creation, and an OpenAI chat service for food, nutrition, and health-related questions, Smart Cuisine empowers users to optimize their ingredients, minimize food waste, and promote sustainable meal prep practices that are better for both individuals and the environment. The AI recipe generator utilizes a meta AI Facebook model that is made more accessible to users, enabling them to create new, delicious recipes using their existing ingredients. The chat service, developed using Flutterflow and OpenAI API, provides users with a natural language interface to ask questions about food and nutrition. With Smart Cuisine, we are making a tangible impact on reducing food waste, promoting sustainable meal prep, and helping users maximize the potential of their ingredients in a more efficient and convenient way. Our system represents a significant advancement in the field of AI-powered food management and has the potential to positively impact the health and well-being of individuals and the environment. The aim of this paper is to present Smart Cuisine, a novel system that uses AI technology to optimize meal preparation and cooking practices. This paper will discuss the innovative features of Smart Cuisine, including ingredient proportion calculation, AI-generated recipe creation, and an OpenAI chat service for food, nutrition, health-related questions and describing the development process of Smart Cuisine.

Personal values, motives, and healthy and sustainable food choices: Examining differences between home meals and restaurant meals

People are increasingly eating out in restaurants, where meals tend to be higher in calories, less nutritious, and contain more meat. In this paper, we argue that differences in the motivational processes underlying people's food choices could help to explain why food choices made in restaurants are typically unhealthier and less sustainable than at home. Using online survey data from 301 Dutch participants, we compared the influence of stable personal values and transient food choice motives on the healthiness and sustainability of meals chosen in a hypothetical choice task, which was geared to the home and restaurant consumption contexts. As expected, participants opted for unhealthy and meat-based meals more often in the restaurant than the home context. Conservation values related negatively and self-transcendence values positively to choosing sustainable meals both in the home and in the restaurant context, although the relation with self-transcendence values was significantly weaker in the restaurant context. Also, taste and social eating were considered more important for choosing restaurant meals, while health was a more important motive for food choices at home. Finally, model comparisons revealed that motives were better predictors of healthy meal choices in both contexts, while the influence of values and motives on sustainable meal choices was more similar. In conclusion, the results from the present study enhance our understanding of differences between choosing home and restaurant meals by providing an account of the values and motives associated with the healthiness and sustainability of home and restaurant meal choices.

Determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices in parents with a higher and lower socioeconomic status: A qualitative study

Establishing healthy and sustainable dietary habits in childhood is necessary for the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases, as well as for the growing pressure on our ecosystems. Considering that parents are the most important actors in affecting dietary behaviors of their children, and that there is a social gradient for obesity, this study aims to investigate differences in determinants of both healthy and sustainable food choices among parents with a higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES). Fifteen focus groups and four individual interviews (n = 78) with parents of children aged 6 to 12 were conducted in Belgium. A semi-structured interview guide based on a socioecological model was used. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematic content analysis was performed using NVivo 1.0. Findings indicate some differences in determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices among higher and lower SES parents. Generally, higher SES parents reported more barriers for sustainable than for healthy food choices. They showed more positive attitudes towards healthy than sustainable food choices, and reported low knowledge and self-efficacy to make sustainable food choices, while a lack of time was a barrier to cook both healthy and sustainable meals. Lower SES parents, like higher SES parents, showed more positive attitudes towards healthy food choices. They reported high prices and a lack of inspiration and skills as barriers for both food choices, while also being influenced by their cultural backgrounds. For both SES types of parents, children had a strong influence on their healthy and sustainable food choices. The findings suggest socioeconomic differences in determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices. Hence, these differences should be taken into account when developing intervention strategies to improve food choices in parents.

REORIENTING TEACHING DYNAMICS OF CULINARY EDUCATION WITH SUSTAINABILITY

INTRODUCTION&#x0D; There is growing concern among environmental scientists that our food consumption pattern is harming the planet and acting as a catalyst for climate change. With the world already in the Anthropocene epoch, considerable harm is caused to the environmental systems by human activity. Achieving environmentally sustainable food systems is an immediate challenge. Food consumption is massively influenced by food trends and culinary innovations conceptualised by traditional and modern chefs. The greatest chefs in the past have linked food artistry with expensive ingredients and most importantly meat. Traditional culinary education was based on learning the art and science of cooking, but in the last decade, there has been a growing inclination to incorporate sustainable culinary practices, such as optimal usage of ingredients and controlling food wastage. Due to this, there has been an introduction of innovative cooking programmes initiated by culinary schools. Food, climate change and sustainable menus should be driving the next generation of chefs to rethink the way fine-dining is approached. This calls for understanding the various changes that can be brought in to change the face of culinary education, thus making it environmentally friendly.&#x0D; MATERIALS AND METHODS&#x0D; The current study aims at understanding the need of changing the dynamics of culinary education and thus training a clan of futuristic chefs who advocate and practice environmentally sustainable menus. The study also aims to conceptualise the various interventions required in culinary education in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. In this study, the PRISMA technique has been adopted to bring out the themes in the collected literature. The work has been drafted as a viewpoint paper, as the author’s own experience has gone into making the research fit the context.&#x0D; RESULTS&#x0D; The study aims to indicate the role of transforming culinary education in achieving sustainable development goals by 2030. The results would identify the gaps by reviewing the extant literature and would suggest a way forward to achieve sustainable commercial kitchens, introducing changes at the grass-root level by transforming culinary education.&#x0D; CONCLUSIONS&#x0D; The study would help understand the way commercial kitchens are changing and the role of transforming culinary education as well as the face of commercial kitchens. The study has a futuristic approach and considers the need to train chefs in promoting and cooking sustainable meals.&#x0D;

"It is really just brilliant to get credits for something that is so important to you!" Skills for Life: University students' perceptions of a planned dietary life skills course.

ObjectiveUniversities have a role in educating and empowering students to become healthy and literate citizens of the 21st century society. The aim of this study was to explore university students’ perceptions regarding the relevance and utility of a planned dietary life skills course.DesignQualitative design including focus group discussions.SettingA Norwegian university with participating undergraduate students from seven different disciplines.MethodData collection included 13 semi-structured focus group discussions involving 57 university students (35 women and 22 men aged 18–38 years). The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim. To ensure in-depth knowledge of the research participants’ thoughts and reflections, thematic analysis strategy was undertaken by a team of researchers.ResultsWhen presented to the idea of a dietary life skills course as a university course, the students were mostly positive regarding its relevance and utility, however both motivators and barriers for attending were put forward. Some mentioned potential academic course benefits, such as enhanced CV, and a few mentioned potential societal benefits such as a healthy population and sustainable food consumption. Several motivators for attending the course were launched, such as increased knowledge and cooking skills, having dinner and expanded network. The students wanted to learn about food, nutrients and health, and how to cook simple, affordable, healthy and sustainable meals. Potential barriers for attending were mostly related to practicalities, such as potential lack of alignment with ordinary study programme or too demanding lectures.ConclusionMost students acknowledged the value of a dietary life skills course and thought that such a course could benefit their personal life. This encourages the offering of such courses at university level, tailored to consider both motivators and barriers for attending.

Public meals as a platform for culinary action? Tweens’ and teens’ acceptance of a new plant-based food

A plant-rich meal pattern is widely considered to be one possible solution for a shift towards a more sustainable food culture that considerably decreases food-related greenhouse gas emissions globally. The public meal, in particular school meals, can ideally become a platform for developing multisectoral cooperation through culinary action, transforming food from being a commodity to part of a strategic solution with societal outcomes. The aim of our study is to support a shift toward more sustainable meal solutions within the public meal sector. The objective is to introduce the check-all-that-apply (CATA) method in a large real-life consumer study, using only one food product, during a lunch break, and still account for the variation in perception between consumers. The objective is also to explore strategic multi-sectoral insights for introducing new foods to a larger population for a shift toward a plant-rich meal pattern. In this study, we established a cooperation between a small-sized food company, four schools and a university in Sweden. A plant-based sausage roll based on minced grey peas was developed. The likes and dislikes of 800 t(w)eens being served the grey pea roll were checked using hedonic values and CATA questions and compared with an ideal. To understand which CATA terms were persistent (meaning relevant, liked and just-about-right across consumer clusters), results including frequency scores, consistency, mean impact on liking, just-about-right scores and agglomerative hierarchical clustering were combined in an extended statistical processing. Our results show that unique/novel and natural were the only persistent CATA terms; these terms should therefore be interesting candidates for further improvement regarding classification and conceptualization of plant-based products in public meals. The CATA term vegetarian, on the other hand, can both increase and decrease liking scores.

Sustainable Expedition and Tasty Meals: A Design Contradiction?

This study focuses on meals on tourist expeditions from a sustainable and experience design perspective. There are studies on expedition food from a medical and nutrition point of view but without an experiential dimension. The purpose of this study is to explore how tour operators are offering meal experiences through sustainable practice during extraordinary expeditions. We report findings from dog sledding expeditions on Arctic Svalbard and Kilimanjaro Mountain climbing. We first describe how meal experiences are integrated into the expeditions. Second, we examine how this is done sustainably. Third, we investigate whether the meal experiences capacitate consumer immersion to enhance the total experience of the expeditions. Finally, we discuss how the study contributes to the debate on meal experience design for sustainable nature-based tourism. The tour operator in Kilimanjaro served nutritious and tasty local food, while the Svalbard trips were based on nutritious dry food during the trip with culinary dinner experiences. All expedition designs combined nutritious and tasty experiences, although differently. Although it is often difficult to focus on sustainability and culinary experiences in extraordinary contexts, we discuss how both aspects can be combined so that expedition food can enhance the experience of consumers.

Barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of sustainable school meals: a qualitative study of the OPTIMAT\u2122-intervention

BackgroundThere is an urgent need to align human diets with goals for environmental sustainability and population health. The OPTIMAT™-intervention study was developed to implement and evaluate a nutritionally adequate and climate-friendly 4-week lunch menu in Swedish primary schools. This study aimed to explore pupils’ and kitchen staff’s experiences of the intervention and to identify barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of sustainable school meals.MethodsAn inductive manifest qualitative method was used. Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted, six with pupils in grades 5 (ages 10–11) and 8 (ages 14–15) (n = 29) and three with kitchen staff (n = 13). Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsFive main categories and 11 subcategories at a manifest level emerged. The five main categories were: 1) Experiences with the new menu, unfolding variations in how the new menu was received and kitchen staff’s experiences of working with it; 2) The meaning of diet sustainability, comprising pupils’ and kitchen staff’s perceptions about diet sustainability as a concept and part of their everyday lives; 3) Factors influencing plant-based food acceptance, covering aspects such as the influence of sensory factors, habits and peer pressure; 4) Opportunities to increase plant-based eating, including factors related to pupils’ and kitchen staff’s ideas for how to increase plant-based food acceptance; and 5) Need for a supportive environment to achieve dietary change, comprising pupils’ and kitchen staff’s thoughts on the importance of more knowledge, resources and involvement of stakeholders to eat more plant-based meals in schools.ConclusionsSuccessful implementation of sustainable school meals would require more knowledge among pupils and kitchen staff. Staff also need more training in cooking of sustainable meals. Barriers among pupils could be tackled by introducing new plant-based meals more gradually and by more carefully considering the seasoning, naming and aesthetics of dishes. An increased leadership support for change and involvement of stakeholders from multiple levels within society will be key in the transition to sustainable school meals at scale.Trial registrationThe trial registration for the OPTIMAT™-intervention may be found at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04168632 Fostering Healthy and Sustainable Diets Through School Meals (OPTIMAT)).

Changing diets - Testing the impact of knowledge and information nudges on sustainable dietary choices

A shift to more sustainable diets is needed to ensure food security and to reduce the pressure on the environment. Yet, many consumers have misconceptions about the environmental impacts of their diets and lack knowledge on how to prepare sustainable meals. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to develop four information nudges and to test their impact on dietary choices among a representative sample of Dutch consumers. A 2 × 2 between-subjects design crossing type of information (procedural versus declarative) with type of impacts (health versus environmental) is applied. The environmental impact is measured in terms of CO2 emissions, land use and water use. We find that pre-intervention knowledge about sustainable or healthy diets is related to the sustainability of participants’ dietary choices. Procedural knowledge on how to prepare a healthier meal has the greatest potential to influence dietary behavior, in particular for participants without prior self-reported dietary restrictions.

The ABC’s of Ecological and Nutrition Labels. The Impact of Label Theme and Complexity on the Environmental Footprint of Online Grocery Choices

Current food production and consumption patterns pose serious threats to our global environment. The goal of the current research is to investigate whether the presence of specific informational cues, i.e., ecological labels and nutrition labels, can improve the environmental impact of food choices. Two online experiments were carried out in which young adults were asked to select products in a grocery shop setting, and to indicate quantities (in grams) for a hypothetical one-person meal. In the first experiment (N = 142), we varied the theme (sustainability vs. nutrition vs. control) of the labels alongside the products. The labels displayed a summarized product score (i.e., the products’ actual nutri-score), but this was either presented as the nutritional score or as the ecological score of that product. In the second experiment (N = 250), we again varied this label theme as well as the level of complexity, namely interpretative (i.e., simple) vs. reductive (i.e., detailed). While the results of the first experiment revealed no impact of the labels, the results of the second experiment suggest that labels with a sustainability theme can influence young adults to compose a more sustainable meal with less meat, and with a lower carbon and blue water footprint. The labels’ level of complexity did not impact the different eating outcomes. In conclusion, while these results point to the potential use of labels with a sustainability theme, it is important to note that the results did not consistently replicate across studies and analyses and should therefore be interpreted with caution. A possible explanation for the effect of eco-themed labels might be that they trigger pro-environmental objectives during decision-making, and prime people to consider the sustainability of their food choices.

Spontaneous Variety-Seeking Meal Choice in Business Canteens Impedes Sustainable Production

Sustainable meal choices in the out-of-home catering market are essential to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. This study investigated consumers’ acceptance of different features that help service providers to work more sustainably. For this purpose, data of a choice experiment and a supporting online questionnaire were analyzed using latent class analysis (LCA) and the data of n = 373 employees. Examined attributes in the choice experiment were menu variety, menu type, ordering system, ingredients and price. LCA led to four consumer segments: variety seekers (27.6%), spontaneous decisionmakers—vegetarian (25.7%), spontaneous decisionmakers—meat (24.1%) and vegetarians/vegans (22.6%). Results showed that consumers in all four segments expected to have the choice between different menus in company canteens. Moreover, they preferred spontaneous choice to preordering. Both preferences hamper sustainable production and consumption in the catering sector.

10.F. Round table: Transforming food and agricultural systems and addressing food insecurity in Europe

Abstract This roundtable will follow up from the Workshop on Planetary Healthy Diets for All and explore practical solutions to tie increased sustainability of food systems to reductions in food insecurity in Europe. There is a disconnect between the level of scientific evidence supporting the need for action on food and agricultural systems and the willingness to uptake it at the national and local level. Countries' reluctance to implement evidence-based policy options often results from the perception that the data and solutions do not reflect their national realities. At the same time, there is a rising trend in food insecurity in Europe. Part of it is driven by the food system itself and part of it by social determinants that exacerbate the effects of elements such as food prices or the availability of affordable healthy foods. In terms of the current response to food insecurity in Europe, there is enough evidence that it is inadequate. The most notable example of inadequacy are food banks: they are unsustainable and perpetuate deficiencies of the foods system, such as waste. At the same time, food banks contribute to widening health inequities because they are stigmatizing, and the quality and reliability of the food they offer exacerbates health problems. They also mask failures of social protection and of food policy to protect those at the bottom. Yet, they are proliferating all around Europe. The WHO European Regional Office for Europe will share practical steps that it is taking to assist policy makers at national level to bridge evidence and action. WHO will present a novel on-line, readily accessible tool that public health officials from Member States can use to guide policy decisions. This tool uses a food systems model considering food consumption, food production, environmental impacts and health impacts to identify practical solutions for countries to create food systems that both have a lower impact on the climate and promote healthier diets. The roundtable will also highlight the transformative example of Copenhagen's public food procurement strategy, which, starting from a target on organic food in public canteens, has evolved into a comprehensive approach to achieve tasty, healthy, sustainable meals with social added value and without increasing procurement costs. In sum, against the backdrop of both nutritional and environmental challenges to food systems in Europe, participants at the roundtable will share barriers and opportunities to the uptake of evidence-based solutions to transform food systems and tackle food insecurity at the national and local levels, including in the context of the ongoing reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the new 'Farm to Fork' Strategy for sustainable food. This discussion will allow participants to share their insights and enrich each other's understanding of the issues at stake and the tools and opportunities on offer to support, in an action-oriented way, a sustainable food systems transition that overcomes food insecurity. Key messages Global reference diets need application on a national and subnational level. Food insecurity, can be major barrier to the uptake of healthy diets and must be tackled as such. The new data platform and training materials will empower policymakers within countries to develop and introduce national level initiatives, such as sustainable and healthy public procurement.

Sustainable Perspective in Public Educational Institutions Restaurants: From Foodstuffs Purchase to Meal Offer

This study aimed to evaluate aspects of sustainable nutrition in Public Educational Institutions Restaurants (PEIR) in a Brazilian state. Cross-sectional descriptive research was conducted in six PEIR. Purchased foodstuffs for a one-month period were investigated from the perspective of their origin (place of production), processing degree and nutritional profile. The presence of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in packaged foodstuffs was also evaluated. Regarding served meals, a four-week period was evaluated in each PEIR considering the Water Footprint (WF) and the nutrient composition of the lunch meals. Results showed that 31.6% of foodstuffs purchased in the period evaluated were from national origin. Analysis of the processing degree of food purchased showed 64.8% unprocessed or minimally processed foods. However, 60.8% of the foodstuffs purchased in a one-month period presented sodium excess, 46.9% had an excess of saturated fat and 40.1% contained an excess of free sugar. The presence of GMO was observed in 9.2% of packed foods. The meals showed a per capita WF average of 2165.8 liters, an energy supply of 834.6 kcal and 1,289.6 mg of sodium per meal served. Foodstuff purchase and menu planning are essential steps towards achieving sustainable meal production and the results showed that foodstuffs purchased in institutional restaurants during the evaluated period was not in line with the precepts of a healthy and sustainable diet. Studies that assess the impact of meal production on the different dimensions of sustainable nutrition are essential to better understand this complex production process.