The School Food Revolution: Public Food and Sustainable Development in the XXI Century

1. The School Food Revolution: Public Food and Sustainable Development in the XXI Century Dr Roberta Sonnino School of City and Regional Planning Cardiff University

2. The Global Environmental Crisis

3. The Economic Impacts of the Global Environmental Crisis • According to the Stern Report (2006), climate change could push the global economy into the worst recession in recent history • It will cost the world ca. $ 1,000 for every person on the planet, unless it is tackled within a decade • Dealing with the problem now would cost just 1% of the world’s GDP

4. Food and the Global Environmental Crisis • More than 100 billion gallons of oil used every year to manufacture food in the US • The average food item in the US travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to fork (Kaufman, 2005)

5. Food and the Global Environmental Crisis • Expansion of “food deserts” • Food and public health • In the US, the public health costs associated with malnutrition have reached $ 10 billion/year • In the UK, obesity and overweight cost some $ 20 billion/year

6. Towards a New Concept of Development • Sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987: 43)

7. Sustainable Development: Key Principles • Equity and justice • Attempt to meet the basic needs of all human beings while also recognizing the potential for imposing costs onto future generations • Democracy and participation • Emerging vision of interconnected highly participatory and low-impact communities • Integration of environmental concerns into our development strategies • Effective environmental protection and successful economic development are interdependent

8. Towards Sustainable Development: The School Food Revolution • It is taking place because of government’s action or in spite of government’s action • It is showing us the way towards a future of social inclusion, enhanced democratic participation, and environmental protection – in a word, sustainable development

9. The School Food Revolution in the UK • The powerful forces of a cheap food culture and a neo-liberal ideology transformed what should be considered as a public health service into a commercial venture • Abolition of nutritional standards and Compulsory Competitive Tendering in the 1980s: “a monstrously myopic mistake” (Morgan, 2006)

10. The School Food Revolution: Hungry for Success in Scotland (2002) • New vision for school meals: • Promoting the “whole school approach” • Raising the quality and nutritional standards of the meals • Re-imagining school meals as an educational and health service • Significant financial investment: £ 63.5 million ($ 120 million) for the years 2003-2006

11. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire • Deprived rural county of 120,000 • Far-sighted council working in the spirit of ‘joined-up thinking’ • Goal of “environmental stewardship, connecting children with food and with where the food comes from” (R. Gourlay, Head of Catering)

12. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire • In 2003, school meals in 11 of the County’s 45 primary schools were reformed: • Pasta, rice, potatoes, fruit and vegetables were increased to promote the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet • Fat, sugar, and salt were reduced • Added colorings, artificial flavorings and GM-foods were banned • Fresh and unprocessed ingredients were prioritized

13. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire: Re-localizing the Food Chain • To involve local producers: • The bidding contract was divided into 9 lots • Innovative award criteria were introduced: • “quality and range of foods offered” • suppliers’ “proposed use of resources”

14. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire: Creating a Shared Vision • I like the school [market], because […] if you educate them to good eating, then it starts to affect the whole structure of the economy. Later on, when they grow up and they have children, it gets passed on.

15. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire: Creating a Shared Vision • The business we do with East Ayrshire is very important to us in terms of dealing with a local customer, we don’t want to lose that customer […]. We need to look over each other. Children are the future of any company. Children are the future.

16. The School Food Revolution in East Ayrshire: The Benefits of Re-localization • Costs of a two-course meal: £ 2.10 (ca. $4) • 10 p (20 cents) difference between buying off national contracts and buying locally • But re-localizing the food chain means: • Boosting the local economy • Reducing food miles by 70%!

17. The School Food Revolution in Italy • Creative procurement policies shape and re-shape sustainable models of food consumption • Finance Law 488/99: To guarantee the promotion of organic agricultural production of ‘quality’ food products, public institutions that operate school and hospital canteens will provide in the daily diet the use of organic, typical and traditional products as well as those from denominated areas, taking into account the guidelines and other recommendations of the National Institute of Nutrition

18. The School Food Revolution in Rome • Rome’s “quality” revolution began in 2002 • New requirements introduced in the bidding system • GM foods and most frozen vegetables banned • Nutritionally-balanced meals • Fresh, seasonal and organic fruit and vegetables

19. The School Food Revolution in Rome • Innovative award criteria introduced to further develop the socio-environmental quality of the products and services offered • “organizational characteristics” of the service proposed • “projects, interventions and services” to reduce acoustic pollution and promote food education • catering companies’ capacity to supply additional organic products

20. The School Food Revolution in Rome • New stage in the Roman quality revolution started in 2004 • Conservation, handling, cooking and distribution of the food strictly regulated • Mid-morning snacks introduced • Menus diversified on the basis of children’s age • Food seasonality and variety emphasized • Special menus for children with special needs • Fair Trade products introduced – 280,000 bananas and 140,000 chocolate bars/week • Pilot schemes to distribute unutilized foods to charity associations • Products from “bio-dedicated” food chains

21. The School Food Revolution in Rome • € 166 million ( $ 200 million) invested to subsidize the service in 2004-2007 • A meal cost € 4.11 (ca. $ 5)– parents pay on the basis of their income • There is no real development without social quality […] No single action can meet its objectives unless it takes place within a context in which the priority is […] a strong sense of community, a type of development that becomes real because the level of social inclusion increases (Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, 2006)

22. The School Food Revolution: Some Final Thoughts • The school food revolution is in all cases a dynamic and creative process of change that shapes new values, mobilizes new resources and builds new communities • What we eat at school is a social, economic and environmental action that provides a unique opportunity to build our collective commitment to a sustainable future of economic development, environmental conservation, democracy and social justice