Short Food Supply Chains in Practice: Sustainable School Meals | Strength2Food Mini-Series

In this Strength2Food podcast special, we explore:

How can we make school meals more sustainable and healthy through short supply chains? Is it possible to provide primary schools with organic produce? How could you get local producers involved through public food procurement? Dr Richard Simmons, from University of Stirling, elaborates on all this and more, with insights from action research in Serbia, in this Strength2Food podcast special.

*Strength2Food is a 5-year EU-funded project that aims to improve the effectiveness of EU food quality schemes (FQS), public sector food procurement (PSFP) and to stimulate short food supply chains (SFSC) through research, innovation and demonstration activities. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.678024.

Find S2F at www.strength2food.eu.
FoodUnfolded is funded by EIT Food, a body of the EU


Time markers:
0:00 Opening Introduction
0:53 Introduction of Dr Richard Simmons
1:36 Improving the quality of school meals through public food procurement
3:07 Challenges around creating sustainable and healthy school meals
4:22 What is public food procurement?
8:12 How Serbian school meals traditional prepared or served
9:26 How the S2F program changed the way Serbian school meals were procured, prepared and served
11:42 How to start the process of shortening supply chains
16:24 Making organic food affordable for schools
17:37 Creating sustainable and nutritious menus
19:59 Standard meal menus can help lower the cost of procurement, make it easier for local suppliers
21:11 Making nutritious meals children can also enjoy
22:49 Balancing meat and sustainability in school meal menus
24:05 Challenges of consistent food supply
26:30 The need for imported fruits and veggies that aren't grown locally
27:51 How to replicate this sustainable initiative and local supply network in your own region
30:22 What it takes to make systematic change
36:01 Setting up for long-term independent success
36:48 What are some limitations or tradeoffs to consider?
37:54 Being a part of change and improvement
40:06 How short supply chains can help stimulate local economy post-COVID19
40:36 Concluding remarks
42:38 Closing