The Global Survey of School Meal Programs was launched in 2019 to gather information about school meal programs in every country in a standardized manner, and it has been repeated every 2-3 years. The survey spans a broad set of topics of relevance to school meals, bringing them together under one umbrella to spotlight their linkages. The 2024 Global Survey of School Meal Programs received a response from 142 country governments, which represents 73% of the 194 countries that were invited to participate in the survey.
School meal programs have the potential to play an important role in food systems transformation. This follows from the aggregate scale of these programs, which reach at least 408.2 million children worldwide and are found in at least 148 countries. It also follows from the programs’ multisectoral nature, with relevance for social protection, education, health and nutrition, agricultural and economic growth, and environmental sustainability. School meal programs touch on each of the key goals of food systems transformation.
Environment and Climate
Sustainability is increasingly prioritized in school meal programs, with countries implementing a variety of initiatives to both limit their environmental vulnerability and reduce their environmental impact. The Global Survey of School Meal Programs captured various indicators of environmental sustainability in school meal programs.
- A large majority (81%) of school meal programs took some steps to limit food waste. This was generally more common in lower-income settings, where food tends to be less plentiful.
- A majority (67%) of school meal programs also took some steps to limit package waste. Most commonly, these included the re-use of bags/containers (followed by 57% of programs that took some step to limit package waste) and the recycling of packaging materials.
- Approximately 58% of school meal programs relied on wood stoves or charcoal stoves for food preparation, and among these, 78.5% took some steps to reduce the use of firewood/charcoal as fuel. Toward this end, the most common step taken was the use of fuel efficient (energy efficient) stoves.
- As part of the food system, school meal programs are both affected by, and a driver of, climate change. Nevertheless, just 38% of programs targeted foods that were considered to be “climate friendly”.
- On the other hand, a large majority (79%) of programs took some steps to reduce the distance traveled by food from the site of production to consumption (i.e., the food miles/kilometers). Across regions, this emphasis on local procurement was most common in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 89% of programs aimed to reduce the distance traveled by food.
Transparency | Diversity | Dynamism | Evidence-based |