Good food at school

What’s at stake?

Today, more than 466 million children have access to school meals, a number that grew by 12% between 2022 and 2024, according to the 2024 World Food Programme Report.

Backing up this progress, 107 countries currently have national school meal policies in place. Meanwhile, the proof keeps piling up that investing in nutritious and healthy meals for children is a really cost-efficient strategy for countries.

From strengthening economies, and supporting both rural and urban livelihoods, to building better climate resilience, and more, the benefits are huge. In fact, the report points out that for every dollar invested in school meals, countries can see a return of anywhere between $3 and $9.

However, if we want to keep things moving, we have to step up the game. In low-income countries, only about 27% of primary school children have access to school meals, compared to 80% in high-income countries. And even when meals are on the menu, there are significant differences in quality.

In many contexts, schools don't have safe kitchens, clean water or adequate dining spaces. The food  often consists of ultra-processed products. Even when procurement systems are in place, they do not always put nutritious, locally sourced or culturally appropriate food first. What’s more, children eat their lunches without ever really understanding how it affects their health, the environment, or their local community.

These gaps are problematic , and they make existing inequalities even worse.

“Healthy and sustainable food habits are formed not just by what is on the plate, but by the environment in which children eat, the role models they observe, and the values promoted through their education. We need  a mindset shift from short-term fixes to long-term impact”- Charlotte Flechet, Global Programme Director - Good Food for Cities.

At Rikolto, we see schools as the perfect starting point to create a new way to look at food:  to teach the new generation that food can positively impact both people and planet.

Our strategy

Rikolto’s Good Food at School (GF@S) initiatives are co-designed processes, we work with governments, schools, farmers, (catering) businesses, civil society and researchers with one vision in mind: to ensure that every student can access nutritious, safe and sustainable food. Those collaborative processes will explore solutions in five connected dimensions:

• Food environments: We work with schools to co-design and roll out viable business models that influence their environments, with students leading the way. This might mean having a say in healthy recipes, doing taste tests, joining school food councils, or clubs, improving their dining spaces, and growing vegetable school gardens. Depending on the context, we’ll bring to the ‘equation’, coordination with young entrepreneurs, social enterprises, and local vendors businesses to  set up healthy snack stands, participate in trainings in healthy product formulation, redesigning menus, and much more!
• Food supply chain: We link up schools with smallholder farmers and local MSMEs using regenerative production practices. This not only entails strengthening procurement systems or practices, logistics, and distribution channels to ensure students receive fresh, seasonal, and locally produced meals, it also provides local actors such as farmers and families running MSMEs a steady source of income they can actually rely on.
• Education and food literacy: Working alongside experts, we support students, teachers, families and vendors in building their knowledge of healthy and sustainable diets. Activities range from classroom lessons and gardening to hands-on cooking workshops.
• School community: We support governance structures that bring together students, parents, teachers and local stakeholders. We encourage students to take the lead, whether that’s running healthy snack kiosks, joining clubs, becoming food ambassadors in their schools, or contributing to cultural projects. Policy and governance: We work with local authorities to make sure the voices of small-scale farmers, parents, students, and school staff are actually heard. We bridge the gap between schools and city decision-makers to make sure healthy, sustainable food becomes a permanent part of long-term local policies.

globally!

Good Food at School (GF@S) initiatives are now running in 11 countries. By 2025, we had reached over 77,000 students across more than 450 schools. While every country puts its own spin on the projects to suit local needs, the goal is the same no matter where we are: every child deserves access to nutritious, safe and sustainable food.

‍Rikolto's role can vary depending on the specific local challenges and its alignment in partnership with local actors:

• A “guardian” of the Whole School Food Approach framework, to ensure its holistic focus through implementation and scaling
• Co-creator and facilitator of sustainable business models that strengthen the food environment and food supply chain interventions,
• Advocate for governance structures that amplify the voices of small-scale economic actors, such as children, parents, and school staff in school food decision-making processes; and
• Coalition builder to drive systemic change.

Now, are you ready to take a global 'Good Food at School' tour with us?

‍

‍

In Europe, Rikolto is a driving force behind SchoolFood4Change (SF4C), a flagship programme funded by Horizon Europe that brings together 43 partners across 12 countries. After three years of applying the Whole School Food Approach at scale, the results from 850+ schools are clear. By moving from isolated activities to this systemic approach, we have unlocked a Triple Dividend:

• For public health: We have reached over 1 million children, creating a "public health shield" that supports the European Child Guarantee.
• For the planet: Schools are becoming catalysts for the EU Green Deal by reducing waste and prioritising seasonal, plant-based, and organic food.
• For the economy: We have professionalised logistics to provide stable, guaranteed markets for regional farmers.

In Latin America, Rikolto and partners under the ‘Ideas that Nurture’ initiative are piloting a model in Quito with a dual approach: on one side, we are working with young entrepreneurs to strengthen their offer towards school kiosks, while also working on a more circular management structure. We also create  a supportive environment for those entrepreneurs by partnering with financial, research, and local authorities.And, with the Quito Food Bank (BAQ), we are testing a cross-subsidy business model where food waste processing is transformed into high-protein chicken feed, supporting free-range “happy chickens.” The sales to premium markets will subsidise the eggs for children in vulnerable neighbourhoods in the city.

In Peru, our work is focused on building student connection to food production through gardens, food education, and entrepreneurship. The project involves training for teachers, community engagement, and the development of income-generating activities linked to agroecological food production. The initiative aims to generate evidence to inform policy and future replication.