Students in a new study were neither clearly positive nor negative about more climate-friendly school meals. Their attitudes depended largely on whether the food tasted good, was filling, and felt familiar. Support was somewhat higher for reducing the amount of meat in recipes than for having more all-vegetarian days.
The study was conducted in Lund Municipality, Sweden, by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. In fall 2021, researchers surveyed students in grades 4–9 at six schools. The main analyses included 1,268 students. The researchers also conducted qualitative sessions with 20 students at two schools.
The survey showed that positive attitudes toward climate-friendly school meals were most strongly associated with students themselves considering climate important when choosing food and with eating vegetarian food at school more often. Girls also expressed more positive attitudes than boys. Awareness that red meat has a larger climate footprint than vegetarian food was high even among students with more negative attitudes, and this awareness was only weakly associated with their attitudes.
“Students are aware of the climate footprints of foods, but when it comes time for lunch, other things become more important. Above all, they think about whether the food tastes good, fills them up, and feels familiar,” says Monica Hunsberger, associate professor of public health at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.
In the discussions, meat emerged as the norm for what many students considered a proper, filling meal. Vegetarian meals were judged against this norm and were better received when they resembled foods the students already knew.
Students were somewhat more supportive of reducing the carbon footprint of school meals by reducing the amount of meat in recipes than of having more all-vegetarian days. Overall, attitudes were mixed: around four in ten students in the survey were neutral toward more climate-friendly school meals, while roughly equal proportions were positive and negative. In the discussions, students described reducing the amount of meat in recipes as easier to accept than having more all-vegetarian days. At the time of the study, the schools already had one or two all-vegetarian days per week.
The study was conducted in connection with an intervention, reported in an earlier study, in which the carbon footprint of school meals was reduced by 20 percent without affecting how much students ate or how satisfied they were with the food.
“Many school kitchens already work on modifying recipes so that they contain smaller amounts of ingredients with a high climate footprint, while also serving a high proportion of vegetarian dishes. This study suggests that such recipe reformulation can be a useful complementary approach for reducing climate impact while ensuring that the food is still appreciated by students,” says Erik André, doctoral student at Chalmers University of Technology and the City of Gothenburg.
The study was published in the journal Appetite.