Biodiversity richness in food composition tables as a leverage toincrease food biodiversity in school menus. A case study in a rural Italian municipality

Lorenza Mistura 1; Silvia Lisciani1; Elisabetta Toti1; Catherine Leclercq 1; Marika Ferrari1

1 Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Rome, Italy

Background and objectives

Increasing the consumption and production of biodiverse foods is essential to more sustainable food systems. The NUTRICO Project is dedicated to optimizing school menus considering the nutritional value and environmental impact of recipes. Biodiversity indicators are yet to be considered in this optimization process. Food composition data at the sub-species level are an essential requisite to include biodiverse foods in school menus.

Biodistricts are privileged areas to improve the sustainability of food systems thanks to the strong link between local food production and consumption. Thus, the current exploratory study was conducted in Tolfa, a rural municipality of the “Maremma Etrusca e Monti della Tolfa” Biodistrict, in central Italy.

The objective of the study is to assess the biodiversity of plant-based foods in the school menu and its potential for increase.

Methods

The biodiversity richness of the Italian Food Composition Database (FCDB) was assessed at species and sub-species level (cultivars, varieties, wild, neglected and underutilized foods) for plant-based foods, based on their scientific and common name. The school menu was revised towards more sustainability through a participatory process with local stakeholders. Indicators of biodiversity were assessed before and after the revision. The potential for a further increase of biodiversity was assessed considering the sub-species data present in the Italian FCDB.

Results

The Italian FCDB was shown to have a relatively high biodiversity richness of information; it contains data on plant-based foods from 113 species. For 28 of these species, one or more foods are described at the sub-species level -for a total of 80 sub-species- such as Brassica oleracea (cabbage) for which 7 subspecies are available.

After revision of the school menu for sustainability and variety, the overall number of species increased from 18 to 21 in vegetables, from 2 to 4 in cereals and from 3 to 5 in legumes. Foods described at sub-species levels were all in the vegetables group and increased from 3 to 5. The FCDB's richness at the sub-species level would allow for an increase in the number of sub-species included in the school menu, from 5 to 31.

Conclusions

Efforts to increase the availability of food composition data on biodiverse foods is worthy for consideration; it may facilitate the inclusion of more food biodiversity in optimized school menus.

Bibliographic references

• National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3—Call for tender No. 341 of 15 March 2022 of the Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union—Next Generation EU; Award Number: Project code PE00000003, Concession Decree No. 1550 of 11 October 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP C53C22000840001, Project title “ON Foods—Research and innovation network on food and nutrition Sustainability, Safety and Security—Working ON Foods”. Sub-project NUTRICO

• Benvenuti L, De Santis A, Ferrari M, Martone D, Rossi L. The carbon footprint of Italian schools meals: An optimal choice of dishes in vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous menus. Front Nutr. 2022 Aug 31; 9:854049.

• Gambelli L, Marconi S, Durazzo A, Camilli E, Aguzzi A, Gabrielli P, Marletta L, Lisciani S. Vitamins and Minerals in Four Traditional Garlic Ecotypes (Allium sativum L.) from Italy: An Example of Territorial Biodiversity. Sustainability 2021; 13(13):7405.

• Italian Food Composition Tables: https://www.crea.gov.it/en/-/tabella-dicomposizione-degli-alimenti

• Rossi L, Ferrari M, Martone D, Benvenuti L, De Santis A. The Promotions of Sustainable Lunch Meals in School Feeding Programs: The Case of Italy. Nutrients 2021, 13(5), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051571.