Délice aims to promote not only fine cuisine but also healthy and environmentally conscious food. This is why Délice is proud to be part of the EU-funded SchoolFood4Change program. The project aims to make school meals enjoyable and healthy for both our children and our planet.
SchoolFood4Change (SF4C) is an EU-funded project running from January 2022 to December 2025. It will provide innovative solutions and tailored, locally adaptable good practices for schools, school meal providers, responsible public authorities, and policymakers, in line with the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Schools have the potential to be the place where young people learn about healthy diets and where a sustainable food culture can be promoted and experienced. This is why SF4C sees schools as catalysts for systemic and multi-actor change, including but not limited to school curricula. It involves training cooks, caterers, and public procurers at a city level and aims to create a true ripple effect, impacting millions of citizens.
At the heart of SchoolFood4Change lies a triple-action approach of innovative food procurement, the promotion of planetary health diets and cooking, as well as the Whole School Food Approach (WSFA).
SF4C will implement and roll out innovative food procurement sourced from land, inland, and sea to ensure sustainable healthy school meals. The project will provide locally adaptable procurement solutions that have the power to make healthy and sustainable meals available in all schools in Europe, leaving no child behind.
SF4C aims to motivate, support and enable schools to provide innovative, climate-friendly, healthy, delicious, zero-waste meals and reflect local identity. SF4C calls on all school canteen cooks to be agents of change! SF4C wants to raise awareness of the importance of their role in the school system and to support and strengthen their position in promoting healthy eating. To this end, SF4C creates training materials and recipe suggestions for school cooks.
The WSFA is a holistic concept that offers pupils healthier and more sustainable food choices in the long term. It's not just about what food they are served in schools but also about where the food comes from and how production impacts our environment and health. Putting the WSFA into practice requires teamwork from school staff, cooks, schoolchildren, and all other stakeholders.
SF4C is coordinated by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) and co-created by a consortium of 43 European partners, including environmental and non-governmental organizations, local governments, scientists and research institutes, schools, chefs, and health experts. They all contribute to the ambitious SF4C target of reaching at least two million EU citizens by directly impacting over 3 000 schools and 600 000 young people in 12 European countries.
Among the consortium, SF4C strongly emphasizes cities, acknowledging their transformative influence over health, schools, and public procurement and their direct impact on citizens. Indeed, 16 local governments are part of this ambitious European project, including two Délice members: Lyon (France) and Malmö (Sweden).
Moreover, SF4C will choose up to 20 Replication Cities to pilot actions, solutions, and approaches in and outside the EU. By becoming an SF4C Replication City, replicators have the opportunity to learn from cities that have already started experimenting with new solutions. So, join the quest for more sustainable food systems by becoming an SF4C Replication City!
Within the project, Délice is a linked partner to the City of Lyon. As a global network, we will support cities in implementing activities and seamlessly share their success. For us, it is always important to highlight the following pillars: Learn, Share & Connect.
Délice activities:
• Collect good practices within the network
• Provide SF4C with worldwide experts
• Support communication & dissemination activities
• Support replication of the project in new cities outside the project.
With a focus on children, the adults of the future, and firm trust in youth action competence, SchoolFood4Change strives for a long-lasting impact on the whole food system that will benefit both the people and the planet.
- Coordinated by ICLEI Europe,
- 43 partners from 12 EU countries, including Délice,
- 16 cities (and regional governments), including Délice members, Lyon & Malmö,
- Impacting 600 000 young people in 3 000 schools,
- From January 2022 to December 2025,
- About 12 million € budget.
Camille Chaumeron-Jourdan, Délice Program Developer / ccj@delice-network.com
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no 101036763. The sole responsibility for the content lies with the SchoolFood4Change project partners. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission. The European Commission is also not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
