Facilitating Factors and Opportunities for Local Food Purchases in School Meals in Spain

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore the facilitating factors and opportunities that can promote the implementation of local food purchase (LFP) in Spanish school meals in the opinions of key informants (IK). A qualitative study was carried out based on in-depth interviews with 14 KI capable of influencing Spanish food policy (Representatives of consumers and/or producers, representatives of organizations that promote LFP, and representatives of the government and/or academics). They were asked about opportunities and facilitating factors for implementation of LFP. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. A qualitative content analysis was carried out with Atlas ti. The analysis of the interviews produced two categories that include factors that- in the interviewees’ opinions- can promote LFP (social fabric and policy) and three categories that bring together the factors that represent opportunities for implementation in school meal programs in Spain (the policy agenda, regional characteristics and regional context). The overlap between social and political demands were considered to be facilitating factors for LFP. Furthermore, in the opinions of KI, the presence of health and sustainability issues on the public agenda, the existence of a structured productive system and political changes represent an opportunity to implement LFP.

Association between maternal and paternal employment and their children’s weight status and unhealthy behaviours: does it matter who the working parent is?

“…Moreover, the school environment has also been found to play a significant role in tackling obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents [38][39][40][41]. Schools might create environments in which children eat healthfully and engage regularly in physical activity, leading to physical, emotional, and social benefits [39,42]. They can also raise awareness and understanding of health risks (e.g.…”

Integrating Family Farming into School Feeding: A Systematic Review of Challenges and Potential Solutions

“…Our findings also highlight that some of the difficulties encountered in purchasing food for schools are related to weak communication among the network of actors [30,43,57]. In these cases, the lack of communication, coordination, and transparency are recurring issues in different scenarios that tend to distance the inclusion of farmers in these programs [30,57].…”

“…Our findings also highlight that some of the difficulties encountered in purchasing food for schools are related to weak communication among the network of actors [30,43,57]. In these cases, the lack of communication, coordination, and transparency are recurring issues in different scenarios that tend to distance the inclusion of farmers in these programs [30,57]. As reported in the study by Izumi et al [43], when the number of nodes between producers and school food agents increases, the opportunity for coordination between the ends of the chain is lost, and all actors are disadvantaged.…”

Sustainable and Nutritional Recommendations for the Development of Menus by School Food Services in Spain

“…This could be due to the fact that the debate around including sustainability criteria in school food guides is relatively recent. In fact, a study carried out in 2016 showed that few countries incorporate sustainability recommendations in their school food guides [ 57 ]. Evidence suggests that incorporating these criteria benefits not only more healthy food provision in schools, it also supports the environment, the economy and the agriculture of the region [ 17 , 19 ].…”