The provision of school meals and food education is a cross-cutting issue. When implemented properly, school meal programmes counteract today’s obesity trends (one in three children in Europe is overweight or obese), support sustainable agriculture, promote public health with effects on children and into adulthood, support environmental protection, and help protect children’s rights.
That is why the partners of SchoolFood4Change (SF4C), together with Buy Better Food, continue to engage in political dialogues to bring politicians from various areas of responsibility on board for our mission: healthy school meals for all children!
This March – on the occasion of the International School Meals Day (#ISMD2025) – SF4C reached another milestone in this respect. Thanks to the support of ICLEI Europe (SF4C coordination), IFOAM Organics Europe (SF4C project partner), WeMove Europe, École à Table, Buy Better Food, and Dario Nardella, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), we even met with three European Commissioners and several MEPs from different parties to discuss school nutrition and food education.
“The food in our school’s canteen is not great nor tasty. And there are barely any vegetarian options.” reported one of the schoolchildren from Germany’s Markgräfler Gymnasium (secondary school) in Müllheim, who took part in our discussion session with EU Commissioners Christophe Hansen (Agriculture & Food) and Olivér Várhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare), in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Read more about this exchange here.
A few days later, “If food is so important, why do we learn so little about it at school?” was asked by a student who took part in our exciting exchange with Glenn Micallef, EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sport, at the European Commission in Brussels. In his response, the Commissioner confirmed the importance of food literacy as a life skill and the need to integrate it into the education system. He also said: “Hopefully, over time, we can make major changes and introduce more concrete elements of food education in schools, which will then translate into better school meals.“
These meetings between children, young people, high-level politicians and food system experts have shown that intergenerational dialogue and collaboration between different departments, across political parties, are crucial to ensure students receive and are educated about proper nutrition – now and in the future.
In the framework of SchoolFood4Change, our partner cities and schools are demonstrating that our holistic approach (Whole School Food Approach) works. Whilst, across Europe, over 90 million students attend schools and universities, more than 650,000 pupils are already being reached through SF4C activities, and, thanks to improved procurement processes, over 3,200 schools across 22 countries are serving healthier, more sustainable meals, including larger portions of fruit and vegetables. The provision of healthy, nutritious meals in educational institutions, coupled with comprehensive food education and meaningful community engagement, presents a significant opportunity to address food insecurity and reduce health disparities. A recent report highlights the wide-ranging benefits of school meal programmes, reinforcing the need for continued investment in this area.
The SF4C project partners’ efforts align closely with the European Child Guarantee, an initiative launched by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to protect vulnerable children from social exclusion. The initiative strives to ensure access to essential services, including at least one healthy school meal a day.Already around half of EU Member States have integrated school meals into their National Action Plans for the EU Child Guarantee, yet there is no unified EU vision that aligns existing programmes on school nutrition across the European Commission’s Directorates-General. So we will not stop seeking dialogue with policymakers and engaging young people in the conversation.