FoodJams - speeding up the transition towards more locally produced plant-based protein in public school catering.

Current situation: Today, the range of plant-based products with high-quality protein that suits municipalities with high climate ambitions is limited.

Locally produced products with a low climate impact that can be used in cooking from scratch and that make it easier for chefs to cook dishes that become favorites to diners, are rare. At the same time, Swedish production of legumes is increasing.

The pace of reducing the climate impact of public meals must increase and locally grown legumes are an important part of the solution.Why: It is a challenge to reduce the climate impact of school meals and at the same time ensure that all students receive a nutritious portion of school food daily.

Thanks to their high protein content of good quality and the fact that they do not need to be fertilized with nitrogen, legumes are incredibly climate-smart sources of protein for human consumption.

If the average Swede were to eat a little less meat and more legumes, both land use and climate impact from our food consumption would decrease.

In addition, legumes are useful; due to their relatively high content of dietary fiber and vitamins, including folate, they have positive health effects.What: The project develops a material based on current research on opportunities and reasons for increased production and consumption of Swedish-grown legumes, with FoodJams as a communication method.

A digital knowledge base is produced with recorded interviews with researchers and growers, instructions for holding FoodJam and recipe suggestions.

During a FoodJam, participants receive instruction with knowledge-enhancing, research-based elements and access to raw materials that they use to cook modern food based on Swedish-grown legumes for a short time.

The purpose is to arouse curiosity and creativity and to increase knowledge about the properties of legumes when cooking. Target group: The primary target group is municipalities´ school catering organizations. They will be given tools to reduce imported meat purchases in favor of Swedish-grown legumes.

The material produced in the project must, however, be adapted so that a wider target group (students, teachers, politicians, the general public) can use it.

In this way, a snowball effect is created that can have a great impact on the popularity and spread of legume-based meals.