Acceptans av vegetarisk mat hos barn - Hur kan Lunds kommun öka acceptansen av vegetarisk mat hos elever i de kommunala skolorna?

Sammanfattning: In recent years, decreased meat consumption has been emphasized as important for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The municipality of Lund is working to reduce its meat consumption by serving vegetarian food once a week in the municipal schools. The results differ between schools, where students in some schools have accepted the vegetarian food while students in other schools have not. The purpose of this study is to identify why the implementation of more vegetarian food has been met differently in different schools. The goal is to develop proposals on how the municipality of Lund can improve their actions for reduced meat consumption in schools to achieve acceptance. I have conducted two case studies of two municipal schools in Lund, where one of the schools has achieved acceptance among students and the other one has not. The study is mainly based on interviews with key individuals linked to the different schools and kitchens, and a short questionnaire addressed to parents and employees. Of the factors considered, the dedication of the key individuals seems to be one of the most important factors in achieving acceptance for vegetarian food among students. Other factors that appear to be important are parents’ and employees’ attitudes towards new food courses and vegetarian food; education on the issue of meat and vegetarian food given to students and employees; and the contents of the vegetarian food served. The most important proposal to the municipality of Lund is that they need to clarify what responsibility and roles the different parties have in their work to reduce the meat consumption in schools. More responsibility should be given to the kitchen staff to increase their dedication of the issue. However, further studies are required to come to the conclusion of how important the considered factors are in relation to each other.