Learning and lifeskills through organic and healthy foods at school - The Scandinavian experience

Summary

Increased political support for public sustainable development and consumption strategies has made the school one of the preferred settings for public organic procurement policies in Scandinavian countries. At the same time the growing incidence of obesity among young people has created a considerable interest in strategies that can improve eating habits among school children. The meal patterns formed during adolescence is believed will be continuously influenced into their adulthood even following generations in the future and thus there is growing support for the idea that learning and lifeskills should be strengthened through initiatives related to organic and healthy foods at school. This paper report on the food transition taking place in school in European school. It reports on the growing number of policy documents and research evidence in the field of healthy eating. Lifekills formation an sustainable development . It draws especially on the development in Scandinavian countries and argues why healthy school meal programme is considered to be an effective strategy to promote health and sustainability. It reports what has been achieved within promotion of organic food sin schools and the European Organic out of home eating, the Alimenterra network and the iPOPY research initiatives on organic foods in schools. Finally the school gardens initiative and the New Nordic food at school will be highlighted.