Support for schools, a key piece for the success of the transition towards healthier and more sustainable school menus

Transforming school canteens towards healthier and more sustainable menus is possible and gives results that can be measured: the menus improve in nutritional quality and reduce the carbon footprint. These are the main conclusions of the EvalMEMSS research project, led by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) and the Barcelona City Council, with funding from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030.

The study has evaluated the impact of the pioneering programme Healthier and More Sustainable School Canteens (MEMSS) in some fifteen educational centres in Barcelona considering four dimensions: nutritional quality, environmental impact, economic cost and acceptability by the school community. Perceptions regarding the programme among political actors, institutional agents and experts in collective catering have also been analysed. The research team has just provided the feedback of the results to the actors who have been involved in the study, and has published in open access a Policy Brief and a practical Toolkit with tools and recommendations to replicate the model in other territories.

Fewer emissions and more nutritional compliance

The first results of EvalMEMSS indicate that the carbon footprint of the analysed menus has been reduced by an average of 27%, going from 0.86 to 0.63 kg of CO₂ equivalent per pupil and day. Furthermore, the so-called "hidden costs", that is, the cost of the environmental and health damages associated with food production, have decreased by 24%.

In the nutritional area, the school menus have achieved an 82% average compliance with the criteria of the MEMSS programme and a 79% compliance with the requirements of Royal Decree (RD) 315/2025, the state regulation that establishes mandatory nutritional and sustainability criteria for educational centres. Among the most notable changes are the increase in weekly legumes as a first course (from 33% to 80%, according to the criteria of RD 315/2025), the daily presence of wholemeal bread (88%) and the increase of salad as a side dish (75%). Likewise, the acceptability of the school menus by the pupils is higher than 65%.

The challenge of the second course and the technical support
Despite the progress in the first courses and side dishes, the research points out that the substitution of animal protein with plant-based protein in the second courses is the main pending challenge. No centre achieved the recommended monthly frequency of 6 portions of legumes in the second courses, remaining at around 25% compliance.

As gathered by the study and the participating entities, this change requires time (between 2 and 3 years), in addition to the need for technical support for the educational centre, education of the pupils' palates and fluid and transparent communication with the families to resolve doubts about the nutritional balance.

The price of the menu does not determine its nutritional quality
In the economic sphere, the study questions the idea that a healthy menu must necessarily be more expensive. No relationship has been observed between the price of the menu and its nutritional quality. The part allocated to the purchase of raw materials varies, in most centres, between 18% and 36% of the total price.

To advance in this regard, the project underlines the importance of public procurement and recommends that the tender specifications prioritise quality and sustainability criteria, and local production, over the lowest price.

Path and open-access tools for institutions and schools
With the objective of facilitating the transformation of the school food system in other municipalities and territories, the results of the EvalMEMSS project have been compiled into two open-access documents for professionals, administrations and educational centres:

• Policy Brief: Summary document with recommendations for good practices specially aimed at those responsible for public school food policies, at a local and state level.
• Toolkit: A practical toolkit structured in 5 steps (evaluate, listen, design, measure and share) with nutritional evaluation sheets, acceptability questionnaires, environmental measurement tools and clauses for procurement documents.

About the EvalMEMSS project
The project "Evaluation of the Healthier and More Sustainable School Canteens programme (EvalMEMSS)" is an applied research initiative carried out by the NUTRALiSS group of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) and the Barcelona City Council, funded by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 (file CE24-PF35 / 2025D371).

This project is aligned with the UOC's research mission: Planetary Health and Well-being —and contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: Zero Hunger; 3: Health and Well-being, and 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

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