As part of the impact assessment activities carried out in SchoolFood4Change (SF4C), the consortium conducted a comprehensive Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis to evaluate the broader social, environmental and economic value generated through sustainable school food systems and project activities.
The assessment followed the internationally recognised SROI methodology developed by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and adopted an evaluative rather than predictive approach. More concretely, the SF4C assessment relied on data collected directly by participating partner cities through simulations executed with the GreenSpoon tool and supporting project monitoring activities.
Fondazione Ecosistemi, the SF4C member leading the SROI analysis, chose an innovative approach by integrating the above-mentioned SROI methodology with the use of GreenSpoon, the environmental impact assessment tool developed within SF4C. This allowed environmental, procurement and food system indicators collected by participating municipalities to be linked with social and economic outcomes and subsequently to be monetised using financial proxies (benchmarks) derived from European and international literature.
To capture different dimensions of value creation, the consortium developed two complementary SROI analyses.
Generating Value through SROI Assessment
The first assessment focused on the value generated directly through SchoolFood4Change activities and interventions (SchoolFood4Change SROI). This project-based SROI compared pre-project and post-project conditions using GreenSpoon simulations representing school food systems before and after the implementation of SF4C activities, including sustainable procurement measures, food education initiatives, staff training, governance improvements and the implementation of the Triple Approach. The first so-called SchoolFood4Change SROI (first assessment) utilised a sample of participating cities able to provide sufficiently robust and comparable datasets for an evaluative analysis.
The second assessment adopted a broader systems perspective and evaluated the societal value generated by sustainable school food systems more broadly (Sustainable School Meals SROI). Rather than assessing project activities, this analysis estimated the additional value generated through the transition from conventional procurement models towards healthy and sustainable school food systems. The analysis included outcomes associated with healthier diets, food waste reduction, sustainable sourcing practices and increased participation of sustainable producers in public procurement markets. The Sustainable School Meals SROI focused on five case studies representing different levels of policy maturity and governance contexts across Europe: Viimsi (Estonia), Czech Republic, Copenhagen (Denmark), Ghent (Belgium) and Nuoro (Italy). Together, these case studies provided a unique opportunity to explore how sustainable school food systems generate value across diverse territorial and institutional settings.
The analyses identified a broad range of beneficiaries, including children and adolescents, vulnerable students, school staff, municipalities, national governments and food producers. Benefits captured through the SROI framework included improved access to healthy diets, increased food literacy, reductions in food waste and greenhouse gas emissions, stronger local food systems and new market opportunities for sustainable producers.
SROI Results
Results from the project-based assessment (SchoolFood4Change SROI) showed that SchoolFood4Change generated substantial social, environmental and economic value across participating communities. On average, the analysis estimated that every euro invested through SchoolFood4Change generated approximately €3.71 of social value.
Similarly, the Sustainable School Meals SROI demonstrated that investments supporting the transition towards sustainable public procurement models generate significant returns for society. To estimate the investment required to support the transition towards sustainable school food systems, four progressively more conservative investment scenarios were developed, reflecting different levels of organisational effort associated with governance, procurement redesign, stakeholder engagement, training and monitoring activities.
To provide a single indicative benchmark for this study, a midpoint between the Prudential and Highly Prudential scenarios was selected (average between 3:1 and 2:1). This approach reflects a cautious interpretation of the results while avoiding the risk of overstating the benefits associated with the transition.
Based on this benchmark, every additional €1 invested in the transition towards more sustainable school food systems generates approximately €2.5 in social, environmental and economic value.
Importantly, these investment scenarios do not refer to the cost of food provision itself, but rather to the additional effort required to support the transition towards sustainable school food systems, including governance, procurement redesign, stakeholder engagement, training and monitoring activities.
The findings reinforce the role of school food policies as strategic public investments capable of simultaneously contributing to public health, climate mitigation, social inclusion and local economic development objectives. By making these wider impacts visible and measurable, the SchoolFood4Change SROI analysis provides policymakers and public procurers with evidence that investments in sustainable school food systems generate value far beyond the dining hall and should be considered long-term investments in resilient communities and future generations.