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Background

The food system is responsible for 25-30% of total greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), a figure which needs to be reduced significantly in order to mitigate climate change. Furthermore, unhealthy diets contribute significantly to the global burden of disease by increasing risks for cardiovascular diseases, obesity, cancers and type-2 diabetes. The adoption of healthy and sustainable diets, in conjunction with a reduction in food loss and waste presents major opportunities for simultaneously reducing the climate impact from food systems and improving health outcomes.

Public procurement of food for e.g. school meals has the potential to change demand, and thereby the food produced and consumed, in the short and long term. Fully subsidized school lunches are served daily in Swedish primary schools to all 1.3 million children aged 6 to 15. Thus, improved school meals have considerable potential to shape children’s diets and reduce food related GHGE.

Planning of school meals is challenging and must take many aspects into account: the food must be healthy, have a low environmental impact, be appealing to the pupils and be affordable on tight budget.

One method to meet these demands simultaneously is through linear optimization. In OPTIMAT, food purchasing lists (i.e. all foods purchased in a given time period) are optimized using linear programming. From the optimized list of the same foods but in new proportions, a new meal plan can be produced by an experienced meal planner.

The overall OPTIMAT project also includes an updated assessment of the contribution that school meals make to children’s total diets today in a national sample of school children.