Food for thought: School meals for sustainable societies

Abstract

School meal programmes support physical and education outcomes of children and adolescents and help close nutritional gaps and address food insecurity globally. Through such programmes, education systems can help ensure that all students have access to nutritionally balanced diets and support health literacy development, while also raising awareness of the social and environmental implications of food production and consumption. They can even contribute to strengthening local food economies and thereby help communities develop a healthier, more balanced overall approach to food.The Trends Shaping Education Spotlights series has been discontinued. Spotlights created with data from Trends Shaping Education publications are now published under the OECD Education Spotlights series.