Project summary

SchoolFood4Change (SF4C) will create a shift to both sustainable and healthy diets on a broad societal scale by directly impacting over 3,000 schools and 600,000 school children in 12 EU countries, providing a replicable good practice across the EU and beyond.

All children go to school and are vulnerable to diet-related conditions and disadvantaged environments. SF4C views schools and children and young people (0-18 years of age) as catalysts for systemic change for the shift to sustainable and healthy diets of all EU citizens. The SF4C triple impact approach will be implemented by 33 partners, mostly governmental partners that have the mandate over sustainable healthy school meals, including many pioneers from across the EU. SF4C has received official support from ten EU Member States.

The SF4C specific objectives are:

• To innovate and roll out sustainable healthy food procurement, sourced from land, inland water and sea, in line with the EU Farm to Fork Strategy and the SDGs;
• Through innovative “planetary health diets & cooking”, linked to the identity of the territory, train and empower cooks and urban food stakeholders in the cities;
• To ensure an enabling educational environment through the innovative “whole school food approach” which is a method about achieving a healthy food culture in and around schools, contributing to community-wide whole systems change, and impacting on education, sustainability, inequalities, communities and health;
• To assess the SF4C impact, demonstrate real life delivery (“business case”), particularly on health and behavioural change of vulnerable children, and prove that it can be cost-effective;
• To seek impact for all EU citizens, demonstrate swift EU replicability, also beyond schools, and engage with European Commission Services and projects on increased Farm to Fork (F2F) impact toward 2030.

Expected results and impact

National and local (provincial and regional) governments are united in their commitment to improving the wellbeing of our children and young people to give them the best possible start in life. Investing in children and young people from an early age brings huge benefits, all in line with the F2F strategy. As a short-term outcome, the project will help children and young people to be happier, healthier and play a positive role in their schools and communities (WFSA). In the longer term, it will benefit the health, wellbeing and economic prosperity of individual EU countries.

The project aims to raise a new generation of responsible European citizens who are aware of the health consequences of their food choices (risks of obesity and other non-communicable diseases) and who respect their planet and animal welfare.

The project also recognises that children and young people are by definition vulnerable, as they do not yet have all the tools to make independent and informed food choices. The project aims to give all participating children and young people in the schools and cities of the project's 12 EU partner countries the opportunity to receive better nutritional education and to eat more healthily.

A healthy diet is a cornerstone of people's physical and mental well-being. Considering the consequences of obesity and other non-communicable diseases, poor nutrition has a significant impact on the economic sustainability of public health systems. Research has shown that a balanced diet in early childhood has a lasting positive impact on health, particularly on levels of cardiometabolic risk factors.

Children also play an important role in influencing their family's eating habits. By investing in the education of the youngest generation, the project will have a positive impact on the eating habits of millions of European citizens.