Stockholm the Capital of Scandinavia

Overview

The City of Stockholm serves more than one million meals every day in schools, preschools, elderly care, and social services. The city has ambitious climate and environmental goals, and food must also be safe, nutritious, and enjoyable. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity: how can large-scale meal provision support children’s health while reducing climate impact and strengthening food system sustainability?

In municipal preschools in the city district departments Skärholmen and Kungsholmen, chefs have developed innovative approaches that combine nutrition, taste, and sustainability. By involving children through activities such as “Sustainable Week,” preparing meals from scratch, baking bread, using seasonal and organic ingredients, and actively reducing food waste, they have realized ambitious sustainability targets in everyday practice.

Menus have been restructured to increase plant-based options while still serving fish several times a week to support sustainable fisheries. This holistic approach ensures that preschool meals not only meet nutritional needs, but also foster environmental awareness and contribute to reduced climate impact.

The ambition is to demonstrate that gastronomic quality, ecological sustainability, and nutritious meals can successfully go hand in hand in public meal systems—laying the foundation for healthier diets, better food environments, and a more sustainable future.

Key actors

• A food strategist supports the work by providing knowledge, tools, and guidance to help ensure meals are tasty, nutritious, organic, and climate-friendly. 

• Chefs put this into practice by preparing appealing dishes, using sustainable cooking methods, and reducing food waste.

• Children are central as both participants and learners; their curiosity and preferences inform menu choices, while meals shape healthy and sustainable habits. 

• Preschool teachers connect food and education, encouraging children to try new tastes and linking meals to themes like health, environment, and culture, making food an integral part of learning and well-being.

Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission

This preschool meals initiative reflects the EAT-Lancet framework by combining nutrition, sustainability, and equity. Menus are nutritious and appealing, with more plant-based options and sustainable fish. Seasonal, organic ingredients and from-scratch cooking lower climate impact, while waste reduction and “Sustainable Week” activities foster awareness. All children in municipal preschools benefit from high-quality meals, demonstrating systemic change. 

The city tracks measurable targets on climate impact and organic share, with monitoring showing clear positive results that strengthen long-term progress.