School canteens as a transformation tool for more sustainable food systems?

International audience

English. French public policies consider school catering as a lever for agricultural and food transitions because of its purchasing power. Some of the objectives of the French EGalim law are to contribute to this goal.In particular, this law supports the development of more sustainable food for school canteens, with at least 20% of the products purchased having to be organic. However, the impact of these organic products on the organization of these canteens is still poorly known.The study presented was conducted between March and August 2022 in three French territorial areas. Two of them were highly urbanized areas, the third being a more agricultural area. Some of the canteens studied were self-managed, while others were contracted to catering companies. The approach was qualitative and based on interviews with canteen managers, cooks and local elected officials. The choice of actors interviewed was based on the distribution of responsibilities retained by each canteen. In addition to these actors, interviews were conducted with food suppliers. The study covered 10 canteens, 18 interviews with canteen stakeholders and three interviews with suppliers. The analysis of the results obtained shows contrasting situations. The extent of the introduction of organic products, the place occupied by local procurement and the structure of the canteen supply chains lead to a diversity of intensity of organizational changes.In some cases, major changes affect the operation of the canteens, particularly because of a challenge to the conventions for defining product quality. The acceptance of products that would be refused in traditional channels leads to the redesign of certain organizational modes. In other cases, our results seem to show that the impact of the organizational transformation is relatively weak and that the changes introduced into the organization of the canteen seem to be associated mainly with the additional costs that these supplies generate. These contrasting situations raise questions about the extent and depth of the ecological transitions implemented.