Hållbar skolmat som accepteras, uppskattas och äts - önsketänkande eller en möjlighet

Sammanfattning: This study examines the perception and acceptance of the Swedish tax paid school meals, its sustainability aspects and what factors that affect the students in their food choices in the municipality of Ängelholm from a student perspective. The guidelines for school meals in Sweden is for it to be healthy but in recent years also more sustainable. A common way to enact upon the sustainable factor is to serve more plant-based foods and more local produce. But what do adolescents think of these changes? What are their attitudes, perception and acceptance of the current school meals and potential changes? To examine this, a 36-item questionnaire was conducted taking inspiration from the Theory of Planned Behavior factors that affects food choices. Data was collected from six public schools with students aged 13-20 years old. Data was analyzed using cross-tabulations looking at the correlation between different variables. A cluster analysis was also conducted to examine the different student segments and how they differ from each other. Results show that taste and healthiness play a central part in the adolescent’s food choices independent of other factors. Females tend to view themselves as more environmentally friendly and are also more open towards changes that encourage more environmentally friendly school meals. School meals are also a subject that engages the students and something they are very passionate about. They do however feel that there is a lack of information regarding the climate impact and origin of the food being served in the lunch cafeterias and that this type of information generally is important for them. Overall, there are some interesting aspects and practical changes the municipality could implement to improve the dialogue with the students, but there is still uncertainty towards how they can provide food that is not only sustainable but also accepted by the students.