Nicole Darmon, Honorary Director of Research, INRAE (testimonial from the dossier “INRAE for healthy and sustainable food in school catering” – 2025)
At the request of the DGS, I applied my research in nutrition and public health to school catering. In connection with the first PNNS, I took part in the revision of the GEM-RCN’s 2007 recommendations for nutrition in school catering. These took the form of maximum or minimum service frequencies for around fifteen types of dish in a series of 20 successive meals. In 2010, I assessed the impact of raw materials on the cost of meals following the new GEM-RCN recommendations, particularly concerning the increase in the frequency of serving fruit and vegetable. This assessment showed that compliance with these recommendations did not result in any additional costs, which facilitated the adoption of the decree making them compulsory in school canteens. More recently, we have demonstrated and quantified the dual nutritional and environmental benefits of vegetarian meals, confirming the relevance of making serving them weekly compulsory in schools, as provided for in the EGalim and then Climate and Resilience laws. French school catering is an impressive global exception focused on balance and diversity, two key words for good nutrition at all stages of life.
Testimonial from our thematic dossier
Thematic dossier
INRAE for healthy, sustainable food in school catering
In France, the challenges of school catering now go beyond simply providing a meal. In addition to the educational challenge of fostering healthy eating habits in future adults, there are public health, food safety and environmental issues to consider. The introduction of organic, quality and sustainable products in the canteen is now a priority. Nutritionists, sociologists, agronomists and economists from INRAE are helping to draw up, implement and evaluate public policies in this highly regulated sector.
