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“Million fewer buy school meals”, “School meals fall angers M.P.s”, “School meals shock for Minister” — these are some of the headlines in the national press in recent months as a result of the increase in price of school meals from 1st April, 1971. Some claim that the lower numbers taking meals are partially seasonal but one must accept the fact that there has been a significant reduction varying in extent over the country. In my own authority from April to June, 1971 there was a decrease of 17 per cent in paid meals with a slight increase in free meals issued. Adjacent authorities quote a decrease of over 30 per cent.

The present study compared the calculated nutritional content of midday meals eaten by primary schoolchildren (n=90, 45 boys, 45 girls, mean age 10.5±0.4 years), in the Portsmouth area, with the Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) published guidelines. Comp‐Eat 5 was used to determine the dietary content of children’s midday meals. Children’s lunchtime meals were not deficient in essential micronutrients; however, the macronutrient content of their diet differed significantly from the published guidelines. Data analysis also revealed that significant differences were evident between the macronutrient content of the two meal subgroups (food provided by the school, referred to as “school meals” and food brought from home, referred to as a “packed lunch”). In conclusion, several changes need to be made to midday meals, eaten by primary schoolchildren, before they will meet the CWT guidelines, and the two meal subgroups require separate solutions.

As a result of a marketing study to evaluate the consumer characteristics, service provision and degree of satisfaction with meals‐on‐wheels, recipients were found to have different characteristics from the general population, being on average, older, widowed, living alone, having little social contact, in poor health and not very mobile. A large majority received four or more meals per week; a hot meal was more popular than a cold one and the most popular time of delivery was around midday. A large majority of recipients were satisfied with the service.

This paper aims to assess the nutritive value of Libyan airline meals in comparison with RDA.

The study was carried out using food samples collected from the catering department of Benina International Airport, Benghazi, Libya, for a period of two months. Different types of meals served for breakfast, lunch (beef meal, chicken meal and lamb meal) and snacks were collected in triplicate from the catering department of the airport prior to being loaded onto the aircraft. These samples were taken immediately to the university laboratory and weighed after removing the bones and separating the different dishes from the pre‐plated meal box. Rice, different vegetables and meat were weighed separately using a digital balance. Measuring cups were used to measure liquids. Chefs were consulted regarding the amount of different ingredients that went into the preparation of the different recipes to enable nutritive value computation using food composition tables. Finally the nutrient content of each meal and snack were compared with the RDA.

The results on the nutritive value of the dishes served for breakfast, lunch and snacks revealed higher amounts of energy, carbohydrates, saturated fat and sodium in comparison with the RDA in most of the meals, whereas the micronutrient content with respect to vitamins A, E and C, most B vitamins, and iron and calcium did not meet the RDA in respect of most of the meals.

The airline needs to look seriously into this issue and improve the micronutrient content of its meals, simultaneously reducing the total energy and sodium content and replacing the saturated fat present in the meals in the best interests of preventing health risks to frequent airline passengers.

The paper assesses the nutritional value of one airline's meals.

Presents new data comparing the nutrient content of school meals to proposed standards and showing the contribution of school meals to the overall diet of seven to eight‐year‐old children. School meals contributed 24 per cent of daily energy intake and 17 to 35 per cent of daily nutrient intake but compared unfavourably to the proposed standards, being too low in certain micronutrients and too high in percentage energy from fat. However, since the overall diets of the children were deemed satisfactory, it was concluded that standards were not necessary for energy and the majority of nutrients. A targeted approach, recommending suitable levels for nutrients of particular concern, was suggested as a more viable option.

Dyslipidaemia is an established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Calorie restriction and adopting a heart-healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet are the main dietary interventions for dyslipidaemia. Other dietary behaviours, such as changes in meal frequency and timing, are not included in the major dietary advice guidelines despite the potential correlation between eating patterns and lipid metabolism. This overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses aims to summarise the effect of meal timing and frequency on lipid profile and make possible recommendations on which meal timing pattern is superior in reducing lipid levels.

According to the protocol published on PROSPERO (CRD42021248956), five databases were searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses investigating the effects of meal timing and frequency on lipid profile in adults.

Five reviews were included, with two reviews on breakfast skipping and meal frequency, respectively, and one review on night-time eating. Increasing meal frequency while maintaining the total calorie intake was reported to reduce total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels with low- to moderate-quality evidence. There was a correlation between breakfast skipping and an undesirable increase in LDL levels with low-quality evidence. However, there needs to be more high-quality evidence to conclude the effect of dietary behaviours on blood lipid levels.

This overview provides a comprehensive summary of evidence examining the effects of meal timing and frequency on adult lipid profiles. The current low- or moderate-quality evidence could not support the recommendation of alteration of meal frequency as an alternative to conventional non-pharmacological treatments for dyslipidaemia.

Public food procurement (PFP) plays an important role in establishing agri-food systems. The study explores local food system stakeholders' response to PFP interventions by addressing the question of how PFP transforms agri-food systems and how this new agri-food ecosystem is governed.

This article presents and discusses a unique case study of Jeonbuk, a rural province in South Korea, which successfully transformed its agri-food system into an ecosystem through its sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) among born ecopreneur farmers. This case not only offers insights into a novel way to create value chains through legislative, executive and judicial governance but also extends the body of knowledge on agri-food systems by introducing the concept of an agri-food ecosystem.

The findings indicate the importance of the ecosystem governance and knowledge exchange among internal and external ecosystem stakeholders. In particular, PFP institutions play a crucial role in facilitating the operation of public meal centers and cooperation among actors.

Taking an ecosystem lens to agri-food systems may offer agricultural cooperatives a wider perspective and better understanding of the governance structures necessary to successfully execute public interventions. Lastly, the Korean case differs from other developing countries, but its role model qualities could help to implement successful school meal programs elsewhere.

This paper reviewed and applied a conceptual framework aimed at identifying the role of PFP institutions in the value chain governance by studying a case study of a South Korean local school meal program. The study further extends the agricultural cooperatives research and contributes to a better understanding of the role of a municipality and an agri-food intermediary in the governance process involving producers and kitchens.

The purpose is to analyse the nutritional adequacy and carbon footprint of intermediated meals provided to preschool children and primary-level students in a Portuguese municipality.

An observational cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sampling consisting of school snacks from a Portuguese municipality. The nutritional assessment used food labels and a Portuguese food composition table. The literature review for carbon footprint assessment was conducted by searching for the products under analysis or similar ones.

The results showed that 80% of snacks have a higher energy value than recommended. The majority of options are below recommendations for protein and fat and above recommendations for carbohydrates. The intermediated meals with more dairy products in composition have the highest carbon footprint. The carbon footprint included the packaging of the products, and it wasn't possible to determine the influence of non-food products.

This study has limitations in the fact that we do not know the carbon footprint of Portuguese products and we had to compare them with others, from different countries, with possibly different types of production.

Intermediate meals are inadequate, and the carbon footprint is higher when the intermediated meals include products of animal origin – the reason why the composition of intermediated meals should be redesigned considering the achievement of these targets.

The promotion of intermediated meals that promote the Mediterranean eating pattern contributes to health and well-being and is a vehicle for nutrition education and healthy food consumption in schools.

Many studies have been conducted to analyse the carbon footprint and environmental impact of school meals, but commonly lunch is the meal evaluated and the assessment of intermediated meals' impact is an open field.

The Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSHP) in Nigeria provides primary school pupils across the country with one meal daily. The purpose of this paper is to standardize the HGSHP meals in Osun State and determine the energy, protein and mineral contribution to the school children's daily nutrient intake.

All the HGSHP meals served school children were studied. Questionnaire, standardization of recipe and chemical analysis were employed to evaluate the HGSHP meals and to suggest improvement.

All the meals were cooked. Dishes composed of a mixture of a legume (cowpea) commonly called beans, a cereal (maize or rice) or tuber (yam) taken with a soup or stew and fish or egg. The bean meals were high in protein and carbohydrate. All the dishes had very low zinc content and did not meet 30 per cent of the school children's daily zinc requirements.

This paper may be the first to evaluate the nutritional contribution of school meals in Nigeria.

It has been claimed that the British diet is still recognizably different from that of other cultures. The claim appears to be based on the fact that the structure of the main meal and its food combinations – meat, potatoes and vegetables – identify it with British culture. This study examines evidence for this claim and attempts to find a theoretical explanation for it. A historical survey of British eating habits gives some understanding of how these have been formed, and food consumption figures and market research surveys are used to indicate the distinctive features of the British meal in the 1990s. Although this evidence can only be used in a speculative manner to confirm the claim made for a distinctive form of the British meal in the 1990s the results suggest that food items associated with the British diet and in particular with the main meal are still important, and their consumption is significant compared with “foreign” items such as pasta. An explanation for this phenomenon invokes structural theory which recognizes that meals have a format that is held in place by natural and social phenomena determined by social relationships while developmental theory which allows for change accounts for the transformations in foodstuffs that have occurred within the structure. Structuralism embraces socialization and tradition that maintain continuity. Developmentalism engages materialistic factors such as technology, transport, which bring about change. The balance between these factors will determine whether or not in the next 50 years the British diet will still be recognizably British.