School catering as a tool for more organic food in the communal and institutional catering segment
At BIOFACH 2025 and the accompanying “STADTLANDBIO” Congress on communal and institutional catering it became clear that school canteens can become pioneers for more organic food, regional sourcing, health, and climate protection. Every day they reach millions of children, shape their eating habits at an early age, and because school canteens are publicly owned, they can be regulated in a targeted manner. Whereas France and Sweden are leading the way with clear policy guidelines and strategies, in many places Germany is still in the starting blocks. Initiatives like the EU project SchoolFood4Change and the TrueMensa rating system show that sustainable school catering can succeed in practice. Professor Melanie Speck from the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück explains which political and practical steps are now necessary.
Why good communal catering is the key to sustainable nutrition and health
Every day, around six million children are served food in German schools and kindergartens1. Following the legal entitlement to all-day care, the catering in educational establishments will be even more important in future. “The greater number of children in school all day, the more important a high-quality, balanced and sustainable midday meal will be,” stresses Professor Speck. This makes school catering a key lever for transforming the institutional and communal catering segment. The school canteen not only offers potential for more organic food and regional sourcing, but is also a place of learning, where nutrition and sustainability become tangible. “If I could make a wish, it would be for all stakeholders to go the extra mile that is unfortunately still necessary to implement the organic system – in the form of procurement and processing capabilities and the courage to take the first step,” explains the Professor for Socio-economics in Households and Businesses at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück.
Organic products in school catering: Germany’s implementation deficit
Despite the great potential for organic food and seasonal dishes in school catering, there is a strong imbalance in Germany. The quality varies considerably – depending on Federal state, municipality, and educational establishment. The reason is that the federal structures create very different underlying frameworks across regions.
Often, economic criteria dominate tendering processes, and sustainable offers lose out. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of fresh food cooked on site, personnel that are insufficiently trained, and barely enshrined nutritional education. Professor Speck puts it in a nutshell: “There is no lack of knowledge, but an implementation deficit. We know what needs to be done. We simply have to do it now.”
Better canteen food: What Germany can learn from school catering in other countries
Other countries have made much more progress in this area: For decades, Sweden has been showing the way. Since as far back as the 1970s, all school-aged children have received a free healthy lunch – financed by taxes and embedded in law. Public establishments are required to consider ecological and social criteria when choosing the food to be served. Many municipalities are already implementing an organic component of more than 50 percent. Towns like Malmö (70 percent organic) and Uppsala are regarded as trailblazers across Europe.
France has also introduced binding specifications for public canteens through the 2018 EGalim Law: At least 20 percent of the foods used must be produced from organic farming. Municipalities receive support with the transition, in the form of subsidy schemes, practical guidelines, and information campaigns.
At the same time, learning about nutrition is an integral part of the daily school routine. Children learn where their food comes from and are actively involved in designing menus. This combination of political commitment, financial support and educational embedding makes Sweden and France the European role models for sustainable school catering.
Minimum government standards and a bottom-up approach need to work together
Professor Speck also advocates clear political requirements: “If we were to prescribe 20 percent organic food as legally binding – combined with a focus on plant-based dishes – this would be a feasible yet effective step.”
But local practices also determine success. “Transformation succeeds wherever people are motivated. Kitchens that embark on this journey need support, not excessive demands,” says Professor Speck. In kitchen workshops with her team, it emerged that: “When participants get on board, change often happens faster than expected. A pragmatic starting point is the targeted use of organic components, e.g. potatoes or carrots that we can readily produce regionally. This strategy is realistic, cost effective, and ecologically sound. In combination with corresponding policy guidelines, this results in an effective “bottom-up” approach,” explains Speck.
Successful projects in practice: SchoolFood4Change and TrueMensa
Two projects show what specific form sustainable school catering can take:
SchoolFood4Change, an EU initiative, pursues a holistic approach, where not just menus but the entire school environment is transformed. In 12 countries, municipalities, educational establishments, NGOs and research facilities are working on making school catering sustainable.
In practice this means:
- Mandatory training for kitchen staff
- Nutrition and life skills as an integral part of the curriculum.
- Active involvement of students (e.g. menus, school gardens, participation-based cooking events)
- More plant-based organic dishes
In this context, the whole-school food approach as a method is designed to establish a holistic food culture in educational establishments and embed the topic of nutrition permanently into the development of the school.
TrueMensa, developed at the Technical University of Nuremberg, also focuses on systematic improvement: Schools can rate their catering based on scientifically sound criteria – from the proportion of organic food to nutritional value and student satisfaction. The first pilot schools show that the combination of data-based analysis and participatory development creates trust and motivates people – whether in school kitchens or parent bodies.
School catering with an impact: How organic expertise and participation are strengthening institutional and out-of-home catering
These projects show how it can work and that it is also worthwhile in economic terms: “Anyone investing in organic expertise today is gaining a competitive edge in public tendering processes, meeting increasing statutory requirements and positioning themselves as a modern, responsible catering service provider,” says Professor Speck by way of a summary.
She also sees getting the children involved as a key success factor. “The more students that become part of the value chain and understand where their food comes from the better – also with a view to educational equality”, Professor Speck emphasises. “The children are often much further on than we think – if you take them seriously and get them involved.”
1German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture https://www.bmel.de/DE/themen/ernaehrung/gemeinschaftsverpflegung/gemeinschaftsverpflegung_node.html
