RT Journal Article
T1 Assessment of the diet-environment-health-cost quadrilemma in public school canteens. an LCA case study in Galicia (Spain)
A1 Simon, Xavier
A1 Copena Rodríguez, Damián
A1 Pérez Neira, David
K1 Environmental Economics
K1 Food Studies
K1 Nutrition
K1 Sociology of Food and Nutrition
K1 Environmental and Sustainability Education
K1 Sustainability
AB The role of policies and public school canteens as drivers of sustainable and healthy diets is increasingly becoming the center of attention of academics and policy-makers alike. This work therefore aims to assess the environmental, economic and nutritional quality dimensions of the menus consumed across the Local Network of School Canteens in the municipality of Ames (Galicia, Spain). It additionally performs different scenarios to evaluate the effects on the environment-cost-nutritional quality trilemma of implementing two major dietary changes in these menus: introducing more organic products, and shifting toward a more plant-based consumption pattern. To this end, this study considers the following indicators: a) those obtained from an energy and carbon life cycle assessment of the school menus (cradle-to-grave approach), mainly the cumulative energy demand (CED) and the carbon footprint (CF), complemented by some energy efficiency indicators; b) the total cost (TC) of the menus, obtained from their life cycle cost assessment (cradle-to-fork approach); and c) the nutritional quality of the menus, calculated and assessed based on the nutrient rich diet index (NRD 9.3). The CED, CF, TC, and NRD 9.3 index of a daily meal at school canteens are, respectively, estimated at 18.87 MJ, 1.30 kg CO2-eq, EUR 4.65, and 278 per meal. The consumption of animal products and labor (for food preparation) are identified, respectively, as the main environmental impact and economic cost of the menus. The results of our research show how implementing changes in consumption habits toward a more vegetarian diet in school menus makes it possible to include organic products to generate the most positive effects in terms of the environment and nutrition without incurring in cost overruns. Our work discusses the main barriers to be overcome and the political actions that must be enforced to advance the procurement of more sustainable and healthy public food.
PB Springer
SN 1387-585X
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42239
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42239
LA eng
NO Simon, X., Copena, D. & Pérez-Neira, D. Assessment of the diet-environment-health-cost quadrilemma in public school canteens. an LCA case study in Galicia (Spain). Environ Dev Sustain 25, 12543–12567 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02578-y
NO Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.
DS Minerva
RD 23 abr 2026