School lunches in Germany are changing. From traditional meat-heavy meals, students are being served a more expansive selection of vegetarian options. The idea is simple: getting kids eat healthier and more sustainable meals while reducing carbon footprints of the schools’ food services.
In Germany, a country that is facing increased child obesity, selling the new diet to children was a challenge. But the results?have been?impressive.?So far,?23,000 students across Germany?are receiving “sustainable” meals through?the?Aktion?Pflanzen-Power (Plant-Powered Pupils) and KEEKS (Climate and Energy Efficient Kitchens in Schools) projects.
Driving this program are?vegan nonprofit?ProVeg?International and IZT (Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment),?which?are working together?“to provide healthy, climate-friendly meals”?in?schools.
“We promote individual health by teaching children how to prepare sustainable and healthy meals,”?Sebastian Joy, Chief Executive Officer of?Proveg?International, said, adding that:?“We also work on planetary health by training chefs and cooks in school canteens.”
The organizations estimate that by serving plant-based?lunches?once a week for a year in schools, children can potentially reduce?their combined?carbon footprint?by?1,076,400 kg.?By reducing climate inefficient food?and?promoting energy efficient behavior in kitchens, greenhouse gases could be reduced by as much as 40 per cent.
According to the (蘑菇视频FCCC), the global food system?contributes?up to 30 per cent of the world’s carbon footprint. Half of it comes from meat production and animal agriculture,?surpassing?CO2 emissions from the?entire global transport sector, including cars, ships and planes combined.
The shift to vegetarian school lunches is part of a broader effort to help the?government meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40?per cent?by 2020.?The project?has analyzed and quantified 22 different measures that could reduce greenhouse gases.
The projects?provide trainings to kitchen staff and caterers so that they can prepare sustainable, low-cost, and healthy meals in public schools.
Dr. Michael?Scharp, Head of Research and?Sustainability?at IZT, said: “We have shown how?emissions?could be reduced by several measures to serve healthy and inexpensive and climate-efficient meals.”
The Paris Agreement calls for food consumption based on less meat and more plant. Similarly, researchers at the University of Oxford stress that switching to diets that rely on fruits and vegetables could lead to significant results in the fight against climate change.
Selected?from?a pool of over 560 applications, KEEKS and?Aktion?Pflanzen-Power?were recognized as winners of the United Nations ‘” climate action award.