Sustainable Food School Program - Integrated strategy to promote local economy
The initiative guarantees healthy and high-quality school meals to all. Is developed through a network between the territorial partners for the school meals management, designated as ‘Public Local Authority’ (PLA) and NGOs called 'Private Social Solidarity Institutions' (PSSI), and is integrated into the Sustainable Food School Program, which promotes healthy school meals in a social, ecological and sustainable way, taking into account food miles, territorial development and job creation.
Local
Portugal
The project is promoted by the Municipality of Torres Vedras.
There are involved 13 public institutions and 13 parish councils.
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Municipality of Torres Vedras Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: Maria Inês Last name of representative: Morais Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: Senior Technician Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: City Hall - Avenida 5 de outubro Town: Torres Vedras Postal code: 2560-270 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 261 320 756 E-mail:inesmorais@cm-tvedras.pt Website:http://www.cm-tvedras.pt
The good practice is about to guarantee healthy and high-quality school meals to all. Is developed through a network between the territorial partners for the school meals management (below designated as ‘Public Local Authority’ (PLA) and NGOs called 'Private Social Solidarity Institutions' (PSSI)), and is integrated into the Sustainable Food School Program - a specific program developed by the Municipality that aims to provide healthy school meals in a social, ecological and sustainable way by for instance taking into account food miles, or territorial development and job creation, divided into four axes: 1.Production; 2.Acquisition, 3.Cooking; 4.Consumption&Healthy Habits.
Torres Vedras has about 80.000 inhabitants and 407 km2. This area is divided into13 smaller regions (‘councils’), each one of them with its own PLA. In 2007, the Municipality became the responsible authority for the schools’ meals for kindergartens and primary schools and, in 2020 all the school levels universe were integrated.
How does it work? – Instead of contracting a catering service for the school meals, the Municipality opted for an integrated strategy which consists on: 1. For the schools of the city area there’s the daily direct management of the meals through two municipal kitchens; 2. For schools outside the city area, it was signed an inter-administrative competence contract with each of the 13 PLAs of the councils. Consequently, all the 13 PLAs have the autonomy to contract the schools’ meals service to their local NGO. These organizations daily cook and distribute the lunches to their respective local schools. Monthly, the Municipality pays for the corresponding number of meals served in schools to the Public Local Authorities and these authorities pay it directly to the PSSIs. Parents pay only 1,46€/meal maximum.
This strategy allows the promotion of the agro-food short through high-quality meals, as also the social-economic development of the territory.
Sustainability
Environmental
Social
Economy
Nutrition
The key objectives in terms of sustainability are: 1) Socio- Economic -Job creation of 80 effective employment in the private social institutions and 20 people at the municipal kitchens’ staff; We must highlight that the private social institution's cookers and workers have high motivation for the work since there are direct human bonds between them and the school children (family, neighbors, community) which reflects a strong will to create great quality meals like “homemade” mode. This also allows the possibility to explore the cultural menus of each village, since we have a large implemented territory of about 407 km2, divided into rural and coastline villages and urban-city areas; 2) Environmental - Stimulating Agro-Food Short Chains and the Circular Economy, by purchasing from small and medium producers and suppliers requiring (where feasible) the delivery of bulk products, usually by daily delivery, resulting in a lower ecological footprint regarding the not use of packaging; Freshness guarantee, not only by the daily provision, but also by the valorisation of suppliers with a less food time transport (from production/storage to the central kitchens), representing less CO2 emissions and, consequently, another lower ecological footprint measure; Integration of two specific lots of organic products in the meals (fruits and vegetables); Food waste management by specific daily cooked quantities according to the meals’ technical sheets of each daily dish in the menu map, representing residual food waste at kitchen level, and also a very significant reduction of costs in the meals’ production. Development of the local economy, by buying food raw-materials at local level directly to farmers and suppliers; Both systems: municipal kitchens and meals provided by the social institutions contributes for the economical circulation and maintenance of money fluxes in the territory. 3) Nutritional - High quality school meals with fresh local and seasonal products.
In terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people, we would like to highlight, the fact that several scientific studies suggest that a healthy diet made with fresh and seasonal food is associated with greater longevity and a reduced risk of developing various diseases.
The sustainability food school programme, promotes the Mediterranean Diet, associated with a better quality of life in health, especially in terms of the mental health of our children.
This food pattern is seen, as the healthiest and most sustainable in the world.
This cultural heritage, is preserved and promoted in our initiative, not only from the point of view of the food education of our children, but also in terms of cultural education, public health, agriculture, municipal policy and local economic development.
School meals are prepared according to several quality principles, such as:
- Frugality and simple cooking which has nutrient-protecting preparations such as soups and stews at their base;
- High consumption of plant products to the detriment of animal food consumption, namely vegetables, fruit, quality bread and dried and fresh leguminous;
- Consumption of locally produced, fresh and seasonal vegetable products;
- Consumption of olive oil as the main source of fat;
- Use of aromatic herbs for seasoning instead of salt;
- Frequent consumption of fish and low consumption of red meat;
- Water as the main beverage throughout the day; and
- Conviviality around the table, with the school canteen being a privileged space for interaction among students, where learning about food flavours is promoted.
Finally it is in this context, that we see our initiative as exemplary, empowering students to make more responsible food choices in the Future.
We can risk saying that almost the entire population of Torres Vedras is involved: students and their families, school staff and teachers, local farmers/suppliers, and non-profit organizations and their beneficiaries.
Has referred in Innovation, the program is aligned in some way with Governance (it's a political decision for the integrated territorial management of the meals), Social and Economic Equity (it promotes the social and local economy, with job creation); Food Production (the territory offers the food supply needs with a lot of local farmers/suppliers, allowing the food short-chains); Food Supply and Distribution (local and fresh products, allowing the delivery of bulk products); Food Waste (daily calculation of the specific quantities to cook by a Nutritionist and the corresponding menus' datasheets, and also the monitorization of food waste after the meal where students separate themselves their leftovers).
The programme covers an action plan focusing on people (municipalities), prosperity, the planet and partnerships.
It is worth highlighting the high local commitment to increase the employability of the local population, promoting the revitalization of local associations, closely linked to solidarity and social cohesion, given that the NGOs, with the revenue acquired from the school meals service they provide, thus increase their capacity to intervene with the most disadvantaged, namely with the elderly population (Day Centres, meals and hygiene at home) and complementary aid services. In this way, by obtaining their own revenues, NGOs become less dependent on occasional support from public authorities.
The fact that the initiative favours the purchase of food products from local producers means that there is a need for a close relationship with them, as the municipality establishes the specific quantities of each food product to be purchased, so that the producers organise their production in the knowledge that their harvests have guaranteed outlets.
The pupils who consume the meals are the big beneficiaries of the quality of the products. Healthier children will certainly be happier adults!
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The programme also uses in its approach the adoption of good economic management practices and environmental criteria in the preparation, cooking and distribution of school meals, using a coherent articulation between the various environmental and nutritional education programmes and complementary educational services, in an integrated and multifunctional logic. The target public is kindergarten, primary and secondary school students, teachers, parents and guardians, municipal employees, private charities and their employees, local associations and Public Local Authority (PLA). In this way, the territorial dynamism of the programme exists, being developed at a local level.
At a European level, the Municipality joined the BioCantina Transfer Network, which belongs to the URBACT programme, financed by the European Development Fund, which aims at the sustainable development of cities. It has been extremely important for our initiative because several good practices have been adopted, such as: cost reduction by reducing food waste, increased consumption of vegetable proteins, the education of children, families and educators on sustainable food, changing their eating habits and also consolidating the strategy on governance and food sovereignty directly linked to the revitalisation of local agriculture.
This programme reflects partnership work with local associations and civil society, empowering this food model, increasing and improving its resilience.
Bridges of connection and transfer of knowledge were created between all stakeholders, namely between the Municipality, the suppliers and producers of food, the PLA´s, the NGO´s, and the entire educational community, stimulating the creation of collaborative bridges making the Municipality more proactive.
The programme covers an action plan centred on the Municipality, on prosperity, on the planet and on partnerships, collaborative work and social networking. This local collaborative network, fostered inter-sectoral cooperation and participation. In this cooperative work, the community works daily with great commitment in the preparation of meals for our children, and in the kitchen teams we always see an Aunt, a Grandmother, a Cousin of a child, who attends the school, therefore, it´s a work carried out with great dedication and enormous affection.
The programme is aligned with international and European strategies, within the guidelines of the Agenda 2023 of the 17 Goals, the programme meets 11, among them: 2 - Zero Hunger; 3 - Good Health and Well-Being; 4 - Quality Education; 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation; 8 - Good Jobs and Economic Growth; 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities; 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production; 13 - Climate Action; 15 - Life on Earth; and 17-Partnerships for the objectives. The initiative stimulates the use of the potentialities of the territory covered by the Municipality!
The results of the innovation can be described as:
- By having a system with two municipal kitchens and a partnership with local public authorities and NGOs (who provide school meals outside the city), there is a promotion of job creation and local short agri-food chains. Local economic development is consequently enhanced (Governance; Social and Economic Equity);
- By creating financial flows in PSSIs, they have become less financially dependent on case by case support from public authorities;
- The freshness and quality of raw materials through direct management of meals, ensures the reduction of the environmental footprint through shorter distances between farmer/supplier and kitchens, and also the distribution of fresh produce in bulk (Food Production; Food Supply and Distribution);
- Through the support of Nutritionists, the daily amount of cooked food is calculated, according to the specific number of children who will have lunch, according to the needs of anthropometric values, creating sheets of each daily menu with the specific amounts of raw materials to be used. The Food Waste Monitoring programme is being implemented in all schools, allowing the measurement of the daily quantities of food waste after the meal, and is carried out with awareness-raising actions in the classrooms to all school children to make them understand the importance of eating well and healthy food, and the impacts of food production and food waste for the planet and for the whole food chain (Food Production; Food Waste).
- Betting on food quality is a way to promote education for healthy and sustainable food choices at a younger age - the future adult consumer.
The instruments contained in the programme can be implemented in the area of education under the responsibility of the different Municipal Councils, Private and Cooperative Education Establishments and Education under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the territorial expansion of this programme with great impact on the need to employ more staff, whether assigned to the Municipal Council, the Councils, NGOs and also by the School Groups.
The programme can be used in the perspective of sustainable financial management of canteens, sustainable procurement, in the area of nutrition and catering.
The model of articulation between the various dimensions that make up the programme is replicable in any school meals management model, since the provision of these meals is mandatory.
At the request of several national public entities, our initiative has been shared on how to implement a direct management system of school meals in Municipalities. By webinar or through face-to-face sessions, we have disseminated how we implement our sustainability programme in school meals, disclosing our working tools and daily management.
In 2007, the Municipality became the responsible authority for the schools’ meals for kindergartens and primary schools and, in 2020 all the school levels universe became also part of the Municipality’s management.
In order to manage this new competence for schools, and considering the importance that local authorities assume in the training of its citizens, namely the younger ones, the Municipality of Torres Vedras (MTV), opted for a territorial strategy for this meals’ competence, which arises through the articulation of the different services of the Municipality, in order to bring together several initiatives aimed at healthy practices, combined with the concern with the efficient management of resources and the promotion of good environmental practices, uniting three dimensions of work:
1- Economic and social dynamism for the school meals;
2- Health and good nutrition promotion, integrated into the educational services;
3- Environmental sustainability.
To reach this, the political deciders had opted for an integrated strategy of governance and territorial development: instead of contracting a catering company for the school meals, it was decided to decentralize these new Municipality’s competencies to the Public Local Authorities to the 13 outside city council, while city council manages directly the school meals through two municipal kitchens, that works as a ‘laboratory’ creating the guidelines for the private social institutions’ ones.
In terms of number, this represents around 1.700 meals/day for the municipal kitchens and 3.000 in the private social institutions’ kitchens.
One of the major challenge is the financial support for this type of projects, which reflects a bigger investment from the Municipal budget. Another problem reality was identified with the public tender constraints. But, by creating a local network with the counties’ local authorities, which, themselves contracts the school meals services to their local social institutions - following the municipality’s guidelines -, the Municipality can better manage the public tender needs for the two central municipal kitchens by its lower number, comparing if all the meals were provided by this way.
With the transfer of competencies from the Ministry of Education to the Municipality of all the school levels in 2020, Torres Vedras had extended its initiative to some of the schools of 10 to 18-year-old levels, with the political commitment of integrating all the remaining schools in a short period of time, resulting in the big challenge at the moment, since it represents a continuity of the implementation of the system related to the network created for all the schools, with some possible scenarios: increase the number of municipal kitchens and staff for the schools in the city, and increase the school meals number in the private social institutions or integrate new institutions in the network. Another challenge is to increase the region's offer of organic products, allowing to integrate them into all the school meals provided by the private social institutions. Here is important to say that, since elderly people of this organizations also benefits from the meals, it represents a better quality raw materials for these two ages’ groups and, consequently, more offer in the territory could allow reaching all the population by making these products available to all the population.
With regard to the extension of the programme, it is important to note that after the highlight of the Programme at the Food and Nutrition Awards in 2016, in the item of food sustainability, obtaining the award of 2nd Honourable Mention, having been considered a pioneer, under the CCA (Short Agri-Food Chains) modality, several invitations have been made to share the good practices implemented with other municipalities, networks and associations.
Since then, the Torres Vedras Municipality has participated in several National Congresses/Seminars, as the programme has been nationally considered a vanguard programme for the promotion of adequate and sustainable nutrition. At an international level, it was recently recognised by the European Commission for Health and Food Safety and the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as one of the "Best Practices" of projects that contribute to healthy and sustainable food systems.
With regard to the evolution of the programme, we should highlight our membership of the BioCantine Transfer Network belonging to the European URBACT programme, which aims to transfer the good practices of the project leader Municipality (Mouans-Sartoux, France) based on the daily distribution of meals 100% organic and composed mainly of local products, with measures in canteens to drastically reduce food waste, as well as the organisation of specific educational activities to raise awareness among children and families about healthy and sustainable eating.
With this adhesion and, taking into account, the benefits in children's health and in the environmental impact of the municipality (and at a global level), the Municipality of Torres Vedras started to include, since 2018, organic products (vegetables and fruit) in school menus, from local organic producers duly certified.
Last October we received an Honourable Mention in the Milan Pact Awards 2022 in the item of sustainable diets and nutrition.
The initiative contributes to the development of food literacy in schools. By developing learning skills among students that enable them to make more responsible and sustainable food choices, in line with the recommendations proposed by the European Commission, specifically in creating favourable learning environments in which the institution as a group is active in the field of sustainability.
It is also important to highlight that our initiative is in line with the actions developed by the European Commission's working group on schools.
Mainly by the Education for Environmental Sustainability subgroup, which supports the follow-up of the Council Recommendation on Education for Environmental Sustainability and the promotion of mutual learning and exchange on how education can support the move towards a greener and more sustainable Europe, including the development of sustainability skills.
