Press and News The Alliance Champions Planet-Friendly School Meals at the 24th Global Child Nutrition Forum
The Alliance contributed to the 24th edition of the Global Child Nutrition Forum (GCNF) by participating in the plenary session and co-organizing two workshops: one focused on promoting planet-friendly school meals and the other on the unique challenges and opportunities of school meals in small island developing states.
The Global Child Nutrition Forum (GCNF) is the world’s largest and longest-running forum dedicated to supporting governments and their partners in delivering high-quality school meal programs. The 24th edition of the GCNF, held in Osaka, Japan from December 9-12, 2024, was organized by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) in partnership with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Education (MEXT), the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF), the School Meals Coalition and International Child Nutrition Japan. The Forum brought together over 400 participants from 82 countries, uniting representatives from governments, businesses, international organizations, NGOs and academic institutions to share knowledge and strategies for improving school feeding and child nutrition worldwide.
School Meal Programs in an Era of Food Systems Transformation
Transforming our food systems to improve efficiency, inclusivity, resilience and sustainability is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The GCNF, with its theme 'School Meal Programs in an Era of Food Systems Transformation' provided a platform to acknowledge the vital role of school meal programs in this transformation. It also served as a valuable opportunity to explore strategies for supporting and scaling existing initiatives, while identifying new pathways to drive further progress in food systems transformation. Setting the tone for the Forum, Danny Hunter - Principal Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and panelist at the plenary session emphasized:
"There is an urgent need to empower every school, every school child and every teacher to be climate-ready that goes beyond just school meals. We need to find ways to not only to serve up a meal but to serve up hope in our schools.”
Planet-Friendly School Meals
In addition to participating in the forum plenary, the Alliance, in collaboration with GCNF and the Office of Global Food Security at the U.S. Department of State, co-organized a workshop titled ‘Creating Demand for Climate-Smart Nutritious Foods through Home-Grown School Feeding’. The workshop brought together over 100 experts and stakeholders and featured a presentation by Danny Hunter on ‘Understanding Climate-Smart Nutritious Foods’ and their integration into school feeding programs. The presentation included an overview of the recently published planet-friendly school meals framework as well as related work from the ASEAN-CGIAR Strategy Intervention Package 3 and the CGIAR Initiative on Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH). Speakers from the Philippines (IIRR, a partner in FRESH), Zambia and Vanuatu also shared success stories and best practices. Discussions at the workshop highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of bringing climate-smart, nutritious and biodiverse foods to school meals. However, as Dr. Hunter emphasized:
“Climate, biodiversity and nutrition can no longer be ships that pass quietly in the night when it comes to future-proofing school meals and schools in general.”
Leaving No One Behind
Together with the Pacific School Food Network, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Fiji National University and Ryukyus University Japan, the Alliance also co-organized the workshop ' School Meals in Island States – Examples, Opportunities and Advocacy '. The workshop aimed to enhance understanding of the challenges of providing healthy school meals in small island developing states (SIDS) and to ensure that the voices of islanders are included in global gatherings, which is often lacking.
No matter where they are located in the ocean, SIDS share common and growing vulnerabilities. They are particularly affected by extreme weather events, which are becoming more severe, along with slower, long-term impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels. Additionally, the climate crisis exacerbates the existing biodiversity crisis, driven by resource overuse, coastal habitat destruction, and the spread of invasive species. SIDS also face major challenges when it comes to resilient food production and food systems and rely heavily on importing inexpensive - yet often unhealthy - food. While the development of school meal programs in SIDS is not as mature as other regions, there is considerable interest in addressing this by collaborating, learning and sharing experiences with other practitioners and stakeholders. The Alliance, through the Pacific School Food Network, is actively supporting these efforts.
Learn More about the GCNF
The Forum developed and ratified a communiqué through a participatory process, which outlines the priorities of participants. This document serves as a rallying point for school meal program advocacy and policy around the world and aims to support the objectives of the School Meals Coalition (SMC) and the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit. The communiqué is available in Arabic, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish on GCNF’s website here.
The GCNF has also just released its flagship global report, School Meal Programs Around the World: Results from the 2024 Global Survey of School Meal Programs. Explore it here.
Photo credits: GCNF and Sarah Burkhart
The Team
Danny Hunter
Principal Scientist, Convener for the Pacific
Sharon Mendonce
Research FellowFurther Information
