Characteristics of Canteens at Elementary Schools, Upper Secondary Schools and Workplaces that Comply with Food Service Guidelines and Have a Greater Focus on Food Waste

Abstract

Policy actions to improve the nutritional environment include the provision of official food service guidelines. This study aimed to examine compliance with food service guidelines for hot meals as well as self-evaluated focus on food waste reduction across settings, i.e., elementary schools, upper secondary schools and workplaces, and different canteen characteristics. The same five criteria for hot meals were applied for all settings with regard to serving of fruit and vegetables, fish, wholegrain product and high fat meat and dairy products. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted as a cross-sectional study among 680 Danish canteens. Canteens having a high degree of organic food procurement were more likely to comply with the five criteria for hot meals combined (OR 2.00 (Cl 1.13,3.53)). Also, the use of organic food together with having a meal policy was associated with reported focus on food waste reduction (OR 1.91 (CI 1.12,3.25) and 1.84 (Cl 1.31,2.59), respectively). Compliance with individual criteria varied across settings with elementary schools being more likely to comply with criteria on, e.g., maximum serving of non-wholegrain products, whereas workplaces were more likely to comply with criteria on, e.g., minimum fruit and vegetable content and serving of fish. In addition, specific characteristics, e.g., serving system, were found to predict compliance with some of the criteria. These findings highlight the need to address differences in canteen characteristics when planning implementation support for both guideline and food waste reduction initiatives.

Environmental Sustainability Perspectives of the Nordic Diet

“…For example, both Sweden and Finland aim to increase the share of organic food in public institutions considerably over the coming years and Denmark aims to double the organically cultivated area from 2007–2020 [18]. The Danish government has made considerable efforts to promote organic food through the popular Organic Cuisine Label, awarded to any professional kitchen serving at least 30% organic food, and awarding bronze, silver or gold depending on levels [18,70]. Recent systematic literature reviews have indicated compositional differences between organic and conventional foods and there is some evidence for potential benefits of organic food consumption from human cohort studies [64].…”

Scenario Analysis of a Municipality’s Food Purchase to Simultaneously Improve Nutritional Quality and Lower Carbon Emission for Child-Care Centers

“…In addition, limiting food waste is critical to improve sustainability and lower GHGE, including optimizing the use of raw products (i.e., using the entire product), adapting portion size/serving bowl size and reusing excess production and leftovers [40].…”

Cuantificación del desperdicio de alimentos en servicios de alimentación de la Universidad de Costa Rica

“…Algunos estudios mencionan que los patrones de menú y la oferta por grupos de alimentos también se relacionan con el desperdicio de alimentos (26). El patrón de menú de los SA de la UCR es adecuado a la dieta usual costarricense, además de ser balanceado a las necesidades de la población, por lo que se considera que esto puede ser un factor fundamental para que se presente un desperdicio un poco menor al descrito en otros estudios (6,27).…”

“…De igual forma, el tamaño de porción es un factor determinante en el desperdicio en plato (26,30), esto es difícil de manejar en los SA de la UCR, porque, si bien se atiende sobre todo a adultos, los patrones de consumo difieren entre estudiantes, trabajadores (docentes y administrativos) y otros grupos de personas que visitan estos servicios, así como las conocidas diferencias en cuanto a requerimientos nutricionales entre hombres y mujeres.…”