Tranforming school meals across the world
After the project start in January 2022 SF4C is now in full swing and has big ambitions, going beyond the partner cities. Exactly a year ago, a new group of 20 cities joined the project – from Europe but also Africa, South America and Oceania – to exchange with partner cities on challenges and best practices related to school meals. What have they been up to over the past year?
SF4C replication: a busy launch in 2023
The SF4C Replication Cities have dived into SF4C’s triple approach and in particular the WSFA through dedicated webinars, but have also had the opportunity to exchange with project cities on sustainable food procurement and market dialogues. They have all met their twin city, with whom they will interact more closely and exchange about challenges and opportunities to improve school meals, while assessing which SF4C activities they will implement in their local context. In October 2023, on the occasion of the second SchoolFood4Change General Assembly, six Replication Cities joined the project consortium in Vienna to dive deeper into SF4C’s work, connect in person and gain inspiration through site visits.
But exchanges are always two-way: Replication Cities also serve as inspiration for the project cities, sharing their best practices and experiences and adding to the wealth of knowledge that SF4C is currently gathering. The WSFA Yearly State of Play thus includes best practices from Replication Cities Schaerbeek, Bremen, Seinajoki and Dunkerque.
Looking ahead at 2024
2024 promises to be another busy year for Replication Cities. In addition to several webinars diving into various resources and topics – from food procurement to youth engagement, they will get to know their twin city better and discuss more concrete challenges, opportunities and solutions together. Planned activities notably include in-person meetings with city officials, technical exchanges between procurers and teachers from both cities, and regular exchanges on project implementation.This will lay the foundation for the Replication City Action Plans, which will be developed until the end of the project.
Replication Cities will also have the opportunity to join SF4C partners during the next General Assembly (for which details will be unveiled soon) and to regional meetings as well as training workshops for cooks, whenever relevant.
36 cities, one goal
Although every country or region has different conditions, requirements, and challenges when it comes to school meals, we believe that we can all learn from each other. Approaches can be adapted to local conditions; materials can be translated and ideas from others can inspire us. And no matter how different our backgrounds may be, we all have the same goal: healthy and sustainable nutrition for our children and for our future.