RT Journal Article
T1 Environmental assessment of menus for toddlers serviced at nursery canteen following the Atlantic diet recommendations
A1 González García, Sara
A1 Esteve Llorens, Xavier
A1 González García, Rebeca
A1 González Vázquez, Luz
A1 Feijoo Costa, Gumersindo
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
A1 Leis Trabazo, María Rosaura
K1 Carbon footprint
K1 Consumptive water footprint
K1 Life cycle assessment
K1 Meal service
K1 Sustainable diet
AB Menus served at public services can be considered as a good opportunity for consumers to demand a service that ensures healthy and environmentally friendly food. It is especially in the sector of nurseries and schools, where these demands make the most sense since they call for the protection of particularly vulnerable population: children. The purpose of this study is to analyze the biweekly menus served at a public Spanish nursery canteen considering the link with the two most recognized environmental indicators: the consumptive water footprint (WF) and the carbon footprint (CF). The WF and CF of the menus vary considerably between menus (619–1359 L·menu−1 and 0.75–2.95 kg CO2eq·menu−1). The assessment has identified non-dairy sources of protein and dairy-based products as the key food categories in all menus. Menus with more meat (mostly beef) and dairy products (mainly cheese) were associated with higher impacts. That is, the average impact of menus with beef is about 2 times greater than the one of all other menus.The distribution and cooking stages presented negligible contributions in terms of greenhouse gases emissions, mainly due to the consumption of local/regional products and low-energy intensive cooking techniques. The most important strategy for reducing environmental impacts is based on reducing the frequency of consumption of beef, so that poultry and lean pork are consumed alternately. This reduction should not compromise the necessary protein intake for toddlers. Attention should also be paid to afternoon snacks that are rich in cold meat and dairy products. Considering these issues, significant reductions in WF and CF indicators could be achieved, up to 550 L·menu−1 and 0.70 kg CO2eq·menu−1. Since eating habits introduced at an early stage are more likely to develop into adult behaviour, children canteen services are an excellent opportunity to promote healthy eating habits in children and their families
PB Elsevier
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/27301
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/27301
LA eng
NO Science of The Total Environment 770 (2021) 145342
NO This research has been partially supported by a project granted by Xunta de Galicia (project ref. ED431F 2016/001 and by a project granted by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Proyectos de Investigación en Salud-ISCIII (project ref. PI16/01301). S.G-G. would like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for financial support (Grant reference RYC-2014-14984). S.G.-G., X.E-Ll., G.F. and M.T.M. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032. All these programs are co-funded by Xunta de Galicia and FEDER (EU)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026