2024: Innovation in school meals: new routes to sustainable nutrition

Simon Massey, Head of Engagement & Learning at the charity Children in Scotland, looks ahead to this year’s International School Meals Day (ISMD).

Children in Scotland was managing ISMD before I arrived in 2015 and it’s great to see it reach its 12th year! Thanks to Scottish Government funding, a network of partners from around the world and the enthusiasm of school staff and pupils, we’ve been able to deliver an annual day celebrating all the hard work that goes into school meals on a global level.

But we know that running alongside the hard work is creativity and innovation. Some that is only more vital when we are managing a range of challenges across the world – including climate change, wars and humanitarian crises, the longer-term impacts of the pandemic and poverty.

For that reason, we decide that this year’s theme should be ‘innovation in school meals’ because we know that there are so many exciting things going on and we want to shine a light on these, share practice so others can benefit and support a global conversation.

Along with the innovation theme, we want to also focus on sustainability and, as always, nutrition because these need to be woven through all aspects of school meals.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what people share with us this year.

As always, we have produced a range of resources that school staff can tailor to the needs of their pupils which you can find on this page of the website: Get Involved

If you use any of the resources, please take pictures of them and either post them on X / Twitter using #ISMD2024 or send them to us on ismd@childreninscotland.org.uk and we can put them on our ‘Shared practice’ page either on the day itself or shortly after.

Make sure you follow us on X / Twitter – @IntSchoolMeals – for all the latest as we build up to the day itself – Thursday 14 March 2024.

From my point of view ‘innovation’ doesn’t have to be big, shiny or even completely new. It could be how better levels of recycling are achieved, or the way food is grown or delivered. It might be old ideas reimagined or something cutting edge.

But to get the conversation started I wanted to highlight a couple of examples I really like of innovation in school meals from Scotland. The first is a high-tech approach and the second is much lower tech but makes good use of waste materials with ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ in mind…

1. Argyle & Bute Council using drones to deliver of school meals
Starting back in 2021, the Council trialled this and was subsequently awarded funding to continue.
You can read more and watch a short video on the STV News website here

2. Burrelton Primary School pupils building a greenhouse from discarded bottles as a way of recycling plastic waste.
Read more on the Daily Record website here or if you want instructions on how to build one yourself, REAP Scotland have produced this factsheet.

So, are you involved in anything you think is innovative? Or do you know someone who is? Get in touch and let us know!