Assessment of the diet-environment-health-cost quadrilemma in public school canteens. an LCA case study in Galicia (Spain)
-
Published:2022-08-02
Issue:
Volume:
Page:
-
ISSN:1387-585X
-
Container-title:Environment, Development and Sustainability
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Environ Dev Sustain
Author:
Simon Xavier, Copena Damián, Pérez-Neira DavidORCID
Abstract
AbstractThe 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.
Graphical abstract
Funder
Universidad de León
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Economics and Econometrics,Geography, Planning and Development
Reference94 articles.
1. Abejón, A., Batlle-Bayer, L., Laso, J., Bala, A., Vázquez-Rowe, I., Larrea-Gallegos, G., Margallo, M., Cristobal, J., Puig, R., Fullana-i-Palmer, P., & Aldaco, R. (2020). Multi-objective optimization of nutritional, environmental and economic aspects of diets applied to the Spanish context. Food, 9(11), 1677. 2. Adjei-Bamfo, P., Maloreh-Nyamekye, T., & Ahenkan, A. (2019). The role of e-government in sustainable public procurement in developing countries: A systematic literature review. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 142, 189–203. 3. Aschemann, W., & Zielke, S. (2017). Can’t buy me green? A review of consumer perceptions of and behavior toward the price of organic food. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 51, 211–251. 4. Batlle-Bayer, L., Bala, A., Aldaco, R., Vidal-Mones, B., Colom, R., & Fullana-i-Palmer, P. (2021). An explorative assessment of environmental and nutritional benefits of introducing low-carbon meals to Barcelona schools. Science of the Total Environment, 756, 143879. 5. Batlle-Bayer, L., Bala, A., García-Herrero, I., Lemaire, E., Song, G., Aldaco, R., & Fullana-i-Palmer, P. (2019). The Spanish Dietary Guidelines: A potential tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of current dietary patterns. Journal of Cleaner Production, 213, 588–598.
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献
|
|