Enabling sustainable food transitions in schools: a systemic approach

Enabling sustainable food transitions in schools: a systemic approach Jo~ ao Graça University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands and Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Lisa Roque Iscte –Instituto Universit ario de Lisboa, CIS_Iscte, Lisbon, Portugal David Guedes and L ucia Campos Iscte –Instituto Universit ario de Lisboa, CIS_Iscte, Lisbon, Portugal and Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Monica Truninger Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Cristina Godinho Cat olica Research Centre for Psychological, Family and Social Wellbeing (CRC-W), Universidade Cat olica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal, and Markus Vinnari Department of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Abstract Purpose –Recent reviews and reports have highlighted the need for integrated, context-specific efforts to enable sustainable food transitions. This study aimed to identify pathways to promote healthier and more environmentally friendly food practices in school contexts, with a focus on increased plant-based eating. Design/methodology/approach –The study used a systemic approach with data collected from relevant stakeholders in an EU country (Portugal) at diverse levels of influence in the school meals system (i.e. BFJ 124,13 322 ©Jo ~ ao Graça, Lisa Roque, David Guedes, L ucia Campos, Monica Truninger, Cristina Godinho and Markus Vinnari. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode This work was supported by Programa Lisboa 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-029348), and by the Portuguese state budget through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/PSI-GER/29348/ 2017). Declarations of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Author statement: JG: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – Original Draft, Writing –Reviewing and Editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition. LR: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing –Original Draft, Writing –Reviewing and Editing. DG: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing –Original Draft, Writing –Reviewing and Editing. LC: Methodology, Investigation, Writing –Reviewing and Editing. MT: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing –Reviewing and Editing. CG: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Reviewing and Editing. MV: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing –Reviewing and Editing. All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0007-070X.htm Received 5 November 2021 Revised 21 February 2022 Accepted 22 March 2022 British Food Journal Vol. 124 No. 13, 2022 pp. 322-339 Emerald Publishing Limited 0007-070X DOI 10.1108/BFJ-11-2021-1188 proximal, intermediate, distal; from end-consumers to food providers, market actors, civil society organizations, and policy and decision-makers). Data from individual interviews (N533) were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings –Meat-centric cultural perceptions of a ‘proper meal’can be a socio-emotional barrier for sustainable food transitions in schools. Main pathways identified to unlock these transitions included: (1) Levering orientations toward ethical and environmentallybeneficial consumption; (2) Improvingand increasing the offer of plant-based meals; and (3) Mobilizing local communities and society. Originality/value –The current findings suggest that promoting healthier and more environmentally friendly food practices in schools requires systemic, integrated approaches which focus on food consumption, food provision, and the broader political and sociocultural environment. Keywords Planetary health diet, School meals, Meat consumption, Plant-based diets, Sustainable consumption Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Feeding a growing global population raises environmental challenges that include climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and disruption of carbon and nitrogen cycles (Coimbra et al., 2020;Poore and Nemecek, 2018;Shepon et al., 2018;Springmann et al., 2018; Willet et al., 2019). There are also global health concerns whereby food insecurity, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies coincide side-by-side paradoxically across the world (IFPRI, 2016). Nearly thirty percent of the world’s population is overweight or obese, and almost half of the adult population (41%) will be suffering from excessive weight by 2030 (Dobbs et al., 2014). Child obesity is a significant concern, as the number of young children between 0–5 years who are overweight or obese increased from 32 million in 1990 to 41 million globally in 2016 (WHO, 2019). This calls for urgent action, as child and adolescent obesity is known to be associated with a range of health problems which include cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, respiratory problems, impaired musculoskeletal development and physical morbidity in adulthood (e.g. Cote et al., 2013;Dobbs et al., 2014;Mohanan et al., 2014). Against this backdrop, a shift toward increasingly plant-based diets (i.e. diets which have the bulk of calories from plant sources while limiting or avoiding animal sources) is one of the necessary (albeit not sufficient) pathways to enable healthier and more sustainable food systems (Aiking and de Boer, 2020;Springmann et al., 2018;Willet et al., 2019). Established evidence suggests that well-planned plant-based diets can help lower the risk of NonCommunicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, obesity and cardiovascular diseases (Satija and Hu, 2018;Willet et al., 2019). Plant-based food products also tend to have a lower environmental impact in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions, eutrophication and acidification potentials, and land, freshwater and fossil fuel use, when compared to animal-sourced foods (Chai et al., 2019;Hayek et al., 2021;Poore and Nemecek, 2018;Willet et al., 2019). However, despite these potential benefits, large-scale transitions toward healthier and more sustainable diets will not happen automatically. A systematic review on barriers and enablers to unlock these transitions identified relevant capability (information and ability to acquire new skills and habits), opportunity (social and physical context), and motivation variables (reflective and automatic psychological drivers) for dietary behavior change (Graça et al., 2019; see also the capability, opportunity, motivation, behavior (COM-B) system, Michie et al., 2011). Similarly, other recent reviews and reports have highlighted the need for a combination of consumer-centered efforts and socio-structural changes to enable food sustainability transitions (e.g. de Boer and Aiking, 2019;Kemper and Ballantine, 2020;Stoll-Kleemann and Schmidt, 2017;Rust et al., 2020), such as promoting changes in collective meal contexts, and designing and implementing meat curtailment policies. To address this need for integrated (consumer-, context-, and policy-focused) approaches, the present study focuses on the possibilities that school meals systems provide for enabling transitions toward healthier and more environmentally beneficial food practices. Sustainable food transitions in schools 323 1.1 Sustainability transitions in school meals systems School meals systems play a significant role in the global food complex, with around 370 million children receiving a school meal a day worldwide (UNICEF, WFP, 2020). Furthermore, school-meals have a multi-sectoral influence over society, including direct educational (e.g. school enrolment, attendance, and academic performance) and public health benefits (especially with students from financially deprived families), agricultural outputs, economic development, social protection and environmental sustainability (Anderson et al., 2018; Oostindjer et al., 2017;Verguet et al., 2020). This suggests that school meals can be seen as a platform in which food sustainability transitions account for multiple stakeholders’needs, resources and expectations at distinct spheres of influence. Drawing on a systems approach (e.g. Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006;Fiksel, 2006), the current study defines stakeholders of the school meals system as the key actors whose ideas, actions and/or decisions may impact the system at different (but interdependent) levels of influence. Accordingly, we developed a three-tiered model to map relevant stakeholders at different levels of influence in the school meals system –i.e. proximal, intermediate, and distal (Figure 1). These stakeholders are embedded in the natural environment, which offers the backdrop and foundation for all their actions (Lozano, 2008). This three-tiered model also fits with the setting of the current study. As in many other countries in Europe, the Portuguese school meals system provides free or low-cost meals to all students as an attempt to tackle Figure 1. Stakeholders at proximal, intermediate, and distal levels in the school meals system, embedded in the environment BFJ 124,13 324 socioeconomic inequalities and promote health and school achievement (Truninger et al., 2015). School canteens must comply with a list of authorized products based on healthiness and origin (i.e. foods produced within Portugal or in the nearby regions should be prioritized), as well as standardized cooking and procurement procedures set by the Portuguese Ministry of Education. School canteens can be operated by the municipalities and/or subcontracted to private providers, but the system is relatively centralized as they are subject to national guidelines. Importantly, as is the case in other Western industrialized societies, Portugal is a highly meat-centric country (Brittin, 2011) and children tend to eat more than the formally recommended levels of animal protein in their diets (Dur~ ao et al., 2017). The high consumption of animal products, together with an excessive intake of sugar, are linked to strikingly high levels of child obesity in the country (Dur~ ao et al., 2017;Frade et al., 2020). This is also reflected in the typical offer provided in the school meals system, in which the standard practice is to rotate between meat and fish meals every day of the week with little room for plant-based meals. Hence, changes toward increased plant-based eating in schools should require concerted action by stakeholders across the three levels of influence –i.e. proximal, intermediate, and distal (Figure 1). The proximal level of influence includes the actors and variables that directly impact the target behavior (i.e. eating more plant-based school meals). Students’families and schools also emerge as actors and contexts of particular interest, considering students as endconsumers. Household habits and practices shape food preference in children and young people (Contento, 2011). Parents and caregivers usually act as nutritional gatekeepers determining what foods are available for consumption at home and as models of eating behavior (Larson and Story, 2009). Additionally, parents and caregivers may shape food habits and preferences by planning and preparing meals or by choosing and ordering school lunches. The school context also plays an important role in children’s and adolescents’eating habits. Peer pressure influences what and how children eat, inside or outside the school premises, namely the food retail outlets close to the schools (Truninger and Teixeira, 2015). Children and adolescents usually spend a significant proportion of their waking hours in educational contexts; hence, the school environment plays a pivotal role in their food practices (Frisvold and Price, 2019). The growing number of school-based programs and policies regarding food provision highlight the potential (and responsibility) of educational contexts for promoting healthy and pro-environmental behaviors (Dudley et al., 2015). The intermediate level of influence comprises groups and/or organizations with relevant influence over school meals, albeit with less direct interaction with the end-consumers. Influence at this level occurs predominantly at the local scale. This may include municipal structures, community-level individuals or organizations, and food provision services/ companies. In some cases, intermediate-level organizations may directly regulate food choice, for instance, by determining food provision (as in the case of schools under municipal or district-level management; Kubik et al., 2010). In other cases, the influence can be indirect, by shaping the surrounding social (e.g. neighborhoods’socioeconomic characteristics, Li et al., 2016) and physical environment (e.g. access/proximity to healthy or sustainable food retail stores, Lucan and Mitra, 2012). Local food environments play a key role in determining food choices (Walker et al., 2010). For instance, the concepts of food “deserts”,“swamps”or “oases” reflect the myriad of local social, economic, and geographic factors influencing access to safe and nutritious food (Cooksey-Stowers et al., 2017). The food environment shapes students’ consumption patterns, and it is often the case that foodand retail-establishments surrounding schools enable inadequate eating practices (da Costa Peres et al., 2020). This suggests that a lack of nutritionally balanced, appetizing plant-based meal options in educational contexts and their surroundings may compromise sustainable food transitions in schools. Social influences at the intermediate level of influence may also contribute to shaping eating behaviors, through social support, modeling, legitimation and social norms Sustainable food transitions in schools 325 (de Boer and Aiking, 2020;Larson and Story, 2009). For instance, health professionals (e.g. doctors, dietitians, nutritionists) may address health concerns and motivations, and provide skills and knowledge to enable behavior change (Cant and Aroni, 2008). Chefs, caterers, and other food sector professionals may contribute to increasing the availability, attractiveness, and nutritional adequacy of plant-based meals (Zellner and Cobuzzi, 2017). At the distal level, the model emphasizes policy and decision making (e.g. political and governmental structures), civic action (e.g. advocates for societal change), and knowledge production and transfer (e.g. universities). Despite the broader scope of influence, stakeholders at this level may substantially impact food practices and outcomes. For example, government policy and regulation may affect farming and production, purchasing, processing, distributing, and marketing, thus shaping food market trends and, consequently, the affordability and availability of healthy, sustainable foods (Larson and Story, 2009). Other policy interventions implicating consumer behavior more directly include awareness and knowledge promotion initiatives (e.g. through public campaigns or nutrition labeling), fiscal measures and taxations targeting specific food types (e.g. sugar-sweetened beverages), as well as provision regulation (for a review of policy interventions see Brambila-Macias et al., 2011). Alongside governmental action, civil society movements have strongly levered the transition to more sustainable food systems (Hinrichs, 2014). Multiple civil actors (e.g. companies, non-profit organizations, civil associations) participate in governance processes through policymaking, social provisioning and discursive interventions, which help shape the transformation of agri-food systems (Andr ee et al., 2019). 1.2 The present work: aim and overview Reviews and reports calling for more sustainable food systems increasingly emphasize the need for integrated, context specific trajectories for sustainable food transitions (e.g. de Boer and Aiking, 2019;Rust et al., 2020;Willet et al., 2019). But how can these trajectories be envisioned and materialized? The present study aims to help address this question and identify pathways to healthier and more environmentally friendly diets in school contexts. We focused on how to enable increased plant-based eating in schools by promoting less meatcentric and more flexitarian school food environments. Using a systemic approach, the study collected inputs from multiple stakeholders at different spheres of influence (i.e. from endconsumers to food providers, market actors, civil society organizations, and policy and decision-makers). First, we mapped relevant stakeholders based on the three-tiered model presented in Figure 1. Afterward, we collected data using individual interviews with the stakeholders and engaged with the data using inductive thematic analysis. Lastly, to give conceptual meaning to the findings and enable interdisciplinary dialogue, we offered an overview and theory-based discussion of the results, linking policy and intervention options. 2. Methods 2.1 Sample This study was conducted in the Portuguese school-meals context. Participants were selected through a process of snowball, purposeful sampling, based on the three-tiered model presented in Figure 1 (i.e. encompassing proximal, intermediate, and distal influences). The scope of potential interviewees was defined according to three broad fields: school meals, sustainability, and food/nutrition. The identification of potential interviewees in each level resulted from media analysis and search in institutional websites. Additionally, participants were asked at the end of each interview to suggest other potential interviewees that matched our criteria/domains of interest. The final sample comprised 33 participants (23 female, 10 male; 8–71 years of age, M542.7, SD 514.3) and ensured a balanced representation across levels of influence (i.e. Proximal 512; Intermediate 511; Distal 510). Table 1 describes each BFJ 124,13 326 interviewee’s role, level of influence, age and gender, in the order in which the interviews were conducted. 2.2 Data collection and analytical procedure This research was reviewed and approved by the ethical review board of the host institution (Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon). Regarding the recruitment procedures, participants were firstly invited via email. The email included general information about the project and the purpose and conditions of the proposed interview. A follow-up contact (by email or phone call, whenever possible) ascertained willingness and availability to participate in the study. A semi-structured interview script was tailored to the participants’characteristics and level of proximity/involvement with the school meals system. The script started with broader questions about health and sustainability challenges in food practices or food systems (e.g. “What is your opinion/perspective on current and future challenges regarding sustainability [health] in food consumption?”), and proceeded to explore more specific questions about plant-based eating and healthy/sustainable food consumption in schools (e.g. “Based on your experience, what do you think are the biggest challenges/barriers [and opportunities/drivers] to promote increased plant-based eating with # Gender Age Role Level of influence 1 F 42 Nutritionist, Professor, Regulation (Order) Intermediate 2 F 45 Chef, Professor Intermediate 3 F 55 Nutritionist, Professor, Regulation (Audits) Intermediate 4 F 27 Nutritionist, Regulation (National Health Guidelines) Intermediate 5 M 29 Advocate (Civil Society) Distal 6 M 56 Quality manager (catering services), Nutritionist Intermediate 7 F 17 Advocate (civil society), Student Proximal 8 F 43 Quality manager (catering services), Nutritionist Intermediate 9 M 56 National coordinator of the public-school meals system Intermediate 10 M 52 Advocate (Civil society), Teacher Distal 11 F 44 Advocate (Civil society), Journalist, Chef Distal 12 F 47 Municipal Officer (Education) Intermediate 13 F N/A Marketing Specialist and Advocate (Sustainability) Distal 14 M 55 Farmers’Union representative Distal 15 F 51 Quality Manager (Catering Services) Intermediate 16 M 35 Researcher (Nutrition Science) Distal 17 M 45 Researcher (Planning and sustainability) Distal 18 F 39 Elected member of the National Parliament, Political representative Distal 19 F 43 Parent Proximal 20 M 14 Student Proximal 21 F 44 Parent Proximal 22 F 45 Advocate (Sustainability) Distal 23 M 71 Advocate (Sustainability) Distal 24 F N/A Elected city councilor, Political representative Intermediate 25 F 45 School Dean Proximal 26 F 46 Teacher Proximal 27 F 59 School canteen cook Proximal 28 F N/A Advocate, School Program Coordinator Proximal 29 M 8 Student Proximal 30 F 20 Student Proximal 31 F 40 Local coordinator of the public-school meals system Intermediate 32 F 49 Parent Proximal 33 F 59 School canteen cook Proximal Table 1. Stakeholders’ characteristics, presented in the order in which the interviews were conducted Sustainable food transitions in schools 327 students?”;“In your opinion, what needs to happen to ensure that students have access to [and interest in choosing] plant-based school meals?”). Before each interview, participants were introduced to the project’s aims and briefed about the purpose of the interviews. Participants were also assured of the voluntary and confidential nature of their participation and asked for consent to record the interview. A sociodemographic questionnaire was used to assess the sample’s general characteristics (i.e. age, gender, education). The interview recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with MAXQDA v.10 using a data-driven (i.e. bottom-up) approach, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) guidelines for thematic analysis: (1) familiarizing with the data; (2) generating initial codes; (3) searching for themes; (4) reviewing themes; and (5) defining and naming themes. Given the range and diversity in stakeholders’profiles and experiences, we acknowledged participants’verbalizations as dependable (albeit non-self-standing) inputs on how to enable sustainable food transitions in schools. The analysis was led by three authors (LR, DG, JG), which independently read and reread the interview transcripts (step one). Two coders (LR, DG) generated the initial list of codes (step two) and searched for themes (step 3) based on semantic criteria (i.e. bottom-up analysis). These were then discussed and reviewed iteratively with the third coder (JG) vis- a-vis the interview transcripts and the aims of the study (step four), until a coherent thematic map with three levels (i.e. themes, sub-themes, codes) was achieved (step five). All authors validated the clarity and coherence of the analysis and output (i.e. thematic map). 3. Results The analysis identified and described three main themes in the dataset (Figure 2): Levering orientations toward sustainable consumption; Optimizing and increasing plant-based meal offer; and Mobilizing local communities and society as a whole. Each theme comprised a set of sub-themes. Figure 2. Enabling sustainable food transitions in schools by promoting less meat centric and more flexitarian school food environments BFJ 124,13 328 3.1 Levering orientations towards sustainable consumption One important pathway to enable plant-forward transitions in the school meals system was to lever orientations towards more sustainable consumption. More specifically, two sub-themes were identified, which focused on the promotion of environmentally-friendly and ethical meal choices. 3.1.1 Promoting environmentally-friendly meal choices. This sub-theme referred to the main concerns and beliefs expressed by the stakeholders regarding the relationship between food and environmental sustainability. The responses addressed issues related to climate change, increased deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems. Factory farms and the excessive consumption of animal products were regarded as problematic due to the links with GHG emissions and significant environmental impacts (e.g. biodiversity; land; water; air). A shift towards increased plant-based eating was seen as a desirable (albeit not sufficient) measure to halt and reverse the destruction of ecosystems (e.g. “I think it is more than obvious that we need to consume much less meat, isn’t it? Therefore, a big change must happen soon, especially in the meat industry. Because of deforestation [...] and the whole impact, including [...] greenhouse gases, etc. Although the problem of deforestation, at this moment, is the one that hurts me the most, it is the one that causes the most problems. [...] We are [...] accelerating the destruction of ecosystems just because we insist on eating meat”–Marketing Specialist and Sustainability Advocate, I.13). 3.1.2 Promoting meal choices that take into consideration animal ethics. Participants also mentioned that promoting ethical food consumption could help encourage shifts toward food sustainability transitions. Most inputs on this matter referred to increasing awareness and concern about the death and anthropogenic suffering inflicted on the animals used in the food industry. Participants referred to disturbing videos on social media or documentaries exposing animal slaughter, suffering and abnormal behaviors (e.g. chicken “pecking each other’s heads until they bleed”), as well as debilitating life conditions (e.g. “very confined spaces”;“cows (...) with objects attached to their nipples”- Parent I.19), which made eating meat look less appealing (I watched a video on Facebook of animals being killed, so, I did not want to eat them anymore”–Advocate-civil society, Student, I.7). Hence, promoting increased plant-based eating was regarded as a way to reduce animal exploitation and take a stand against anthropogenic suffering. 3.2 Optimizing and increasing plant-based meal offer The need to optimize and increase plant-based meal offer in school settings was also highlighted in the interviews. Recurrent patterns of response focused on the structural and logistic issues that schools face daily, which compromise this optimization. The main issues included the need to increase staff training, food literacy, improve the nutritional profile and sensory appeal of plant-based meals, increase the variety and diversity of plant-based meal options, and address logisticand other provision-related challenges. 3.2.1 Promoting staff training. The need to increase staff training, both in the kitchen as well as the number of qualified school nutritionists, was mentioned by participants as a way to optimize and increase plant-based meal offer. Recurrent patterns of response focused on a general lack of knowledge and skills to prepare balanced and appetizing plant-based meals, which resulted in negative taste experiences and expectations on behalf of students as endconsumers (e.g. “There is a lot of ignorance on the part of the employees on how to cook these, these ingredients. For example, if some of these ingredients are not soaked, they have a bad taste and you cannot eat them”;Nutritionist, Professor, Regulation/Audits, I.3). Similarly, another barrier for the transition was the lack of school nutritionists who are qualified to ensure and supervise the nutritional adequacy of school meals, as well as addressing parents’concerns and representations about plant-based eating (e.g. “An issue that should also be noted is the lack of school nutritionists, the failure to ensure that there is, in fact, a sufficient number to Sustainable food transitions in schools 329 monitor what should be the nutritional needs of school children”; Elected Member of the National Parliament, Political representative, I.18). 3.2.2 Increasing food literacy at schools. Participants referred to the need to have more dedicated spaces and allocated periods at schools where students could have direct contact with nature and food, to promote general food sustainability transitions and increased plantbased eating in particular. Providing these experiences could be seen as part of an integrated strategy to optimize the offer of plant-based meals, via opportunities in schools to identify plant-based foods and to learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and cook these foods. These experiences were considered relevant to increase familiarity and positive affect toward plantbased foods and meals, thus creating involvement and higher willingness to change (e.g. “Schools should also have an educational component that provides children with more direct contact with nature, like vegetable gardens, for example, at the schools”;Elected Member of the National Parliament, Political representative, I.18). 3.2.3 Improving the nutritional profile of plant-based meals. An important concern referred to the need to improve the nutritional profile of plant-based school meals. Participants mentioned many anecdotal situations where school meals were mainly composed of refined carbs (e.g. rice, cereals), salad and boiled vegetables, with an evident lack of important macronutrients. Improving and ensuring the nutritional adequacy of plant-based meals was considered critical to enabling food transitions within the school community (e.g. “Then there is also the question (...) that it is often not nutritionally balanced (...), there are many cases of a rice dish with [only] grated carrots”;Advocate-Civil Society, I.5). 3.2.4 Increasing sensory appeal and variety. The need to create, prepare and provide more attractive and appetizing plant-based meals was identified as a critical enabler for change. Plant-based meals were described as repetitive, unappealing and visually unattractive. This reinforced prejudice against plant-based eating among the school communities and reinforced meat-based meals as the standard of a ‘proper meal’in the school-meals context. Investing time, effort and material resources into the development of new and more appealing plant-based meals in the school meals system was considered a priority (e.g. “Nonvegetarian meals [...] look more appealing than vegetarian meals, which seem so bland ... I cannot explain it, it’s just less appetizing”;Student, I.30). 3.2.5 Addressing additional provision-related challenges. One important concern referred to the need to tackle challenges to provide plant-based meals in schools, namely logistic difficulties (i.e. investing time and energy preparing and distributing plant-based meals which may have low demand), concerns about food waste due to having to prepare (plantbased) meals in addition to the standard (i.e. conventional) meator fish-based meals, and the lack of staff training and expertise in preparing “non-familiar food”(i.e. plant-based meals; “And then we are going to open a product —for example, a package of soy milk [in addition to cow’s milk] that will go to waste [due to low demand]. [...] All of this [...] leads to increased waste, which brings financial problems for organizations and the problem of food waste”; Quality Manager-Catering Services, Nutritionist, I.6). 3.3 Mobilizing local communities and society as a whole A third theme referred broadly to mobilizing local communities and society around the potential benefits of plant-based eating. Stakeholders addressed potential pathways to enable these mobilization efforts, identified in the sub-themes: promoting school-community involvement, making school food a political priority, tackling financial constraints, and shifting away from traditional meat-centric representations of ‘proper meal’. 3.3.1 Promoting school-community involvement. Participants mentioned that effective food sustainability transitions in the school context would require the active involvement of students and the involvement of parents and teachers as members of the school community. 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Corresponding author Jo~ ao Graça can be contacted at: [email protected] For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm Or contact us for further details: [email protected] Sustainable food transitions in schools 339