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Making the food in all schools in Sweden healthier and climate-smart for the same low price is no easy task. Especially if you don’t want to compromise on taste.
Now algorithms can be the solution.
In a new study from the Karolinska Institutet, a mathematical formula was used to produce a menu that was tested with students from preschool to ninth grade in three schools in Stockholm. The result was a success.
The challenge
The new lunches reduced climate impact by 40 percent, without the food becoming more expensive or less popular with students.
– Many of those trying to create more nutritious and climate-smart food for children often lose the cost or that children don’t like the food, says Patricia Eustachio Colombo, who is behind the dissertation.
Based on an algorithm, a list was created with foods that were both nutritious and climate-smart. Patricia then enlisted the help of the town’s meal planner to make new recipes.
– The challenge for her was to create recipes with more legumes and less red meat, says Patricia Eustachio Colombo.
In the study, no food was excluded. On the other hand, the amount of red meat, which represents the greatest climatic impact in school kitchens, was cut in half. According to Patricia, it is important that children recognize the food they ate.
– The dishes were quite similar to the originals, but the ingredients were different. For example, he made a sausage stew that was turned into a root vegetable stew with sausages instead. More tubers and lentils, but less sausage than before.
“I didn’t know when”
However, they kept it a secret when the study was to begin in the three schools.
– Schools, students and parents knew something was happening, but not when. It could create psychological barriers, says Patricia Eustachio Colombo.
Now more schools will be able to sample the menu. For the revolution in school kitchens to spread across the country, the method is required to be automated and easily accessible for the township’s meal planners to work in accordance with.
