INCREASING ORGANIC FOOD IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS NAT seminar, Zwolle 12 March 2015 Nicola Catellani...

INCREASING ORGANIC FOOD IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

NAT seminar, Zwolle 12 March 2015

Nicola Catellani

nicola.catellani@sern.eu

THE CONTEXT - SERN

A BILATERAL NETWORK ACTIVE SINCE 2005 55 MEMBERS 28 Swedish Members

27 Italian Members

47 Local and Regional Authorities 8 Non public actors

5 THEMATIC AREAS

Education

Social Inclusion

Energy and Environment

Local/Regional development

Employment policies

THE PROJECT

Lenght 2 years(2010-2011) 142 Participants in the activites 8 partners

Co-funding of the EU about 92.000 €

OBJECTIVES

1. Raise Awareness among the target groups of the project;

1. Children (local activities):

2. Families (local activities):

3. Kitchen staff (transnational activities):

4. Political represents (local and transnational activities)

5. producers (local and transnational activities):

2. Identify solutions to increase the percentage of organic food in the schools;

3. Identify solutions to facilitate the matching between demand (public entities) and supply (producers)

4. Create a network among involved actors in a long term perspective

Non acceptanceof the meal

Excessive costs

Scarce attention to the products

and their origin

Excessive wastes

Lack of education on the

principles of correct nutrition

Lack of respect for the health and the environment

APPROACH

Cost reduction Increase in amount

organic food served

Lowerenvironmental impact

Creation of local organic production

chain

Education on organic food

and the quality of the products

Cost analysis and

environmental impact analysisSupply system

of organicproducts

CONVENTIONAL PRODUCT ORGANIC PRODUCT

1) C02 production emissions

2) C02 trasport emissions3) The distance covered by

the food. 4) Amount of pesticides

1) C02 production emissions

2) C02 trasport emissions3) The distance covered by

the food. 4) Amount of pesticides

AGGREGATED INDICATOR

AGGREGATED INDICATOR

ACTIVITIES AND METHODS

Engagement of representatives of the target groups

Focus on two main thematic areas Education

Environmental Impact/Creation of the local supply chain

Local Activities: Testing of practices across the partnership and involvement of local stakeholders

RESULTS OF THE PROJECT

Exchange and transfer of good practice among the partners;

Identification of common guidelines for increasing organic food in schools

EDUCATION GROUP

1. Active engagement and awareness raising among

the children (activities with and about food)

2. Active engagement of the parents

3. Identification of the opinions of the children

4. Active role of the teachers with particular attention

to the themes of nutrition and environment

5. Networking between different actors active in the

sector of education

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES/ LOCAL PRODUCTION CHAIN

1. Adjustment of the menu

2. Investment of saved resources in organic products

3. Improvement of waste management

4. Improvement of the procurement practices(favoring the products of the local

production chain)

ELEMENTS OF REFLECTION Increasing organic food in schools can be the driver

of a broader strategy that involves environmental, economic and educational issues;

Organic and locally produced food combined with adpated menus and awareness raisinng processes are the main ingredients of a succesful recipe emerged from the project

Teamwork and networking is key success factor at local level

Thank you for your attention!