A discussion about improving the quality of school meals has also begun in Poland. Together with the Polish city network for energy efficiency, the IZT used this opportunity to sensitise the staff of Polish school kitchens and caterers to cook and operate not only in a healthier and more ecological way, but also in a more climate-friendly way. Recipes for climate-friendly German school meals were adapted to Polish dishes, ingredients and eating habits. This also applies to the evaluation of typical dishes and their ingredients according to the criteria of their climate impact in CO2 equivalents. The 22 measures and educational materials developed for German school kitchens by the "KEEKS" joint project coordinated by the IZT were also transferred to Polish conditions.

The implementing partner PNEC, the Polish training staff and the kitchen managers were trained on climate change and nutrition, energy-saving school kitchen operation and the following key measures of the KEEKS project:

  • Variation of the ingredients
  • Adherence to the DGE quality standard of a maximum of two meat dishes per week
  • Reduce the amount of meat in meat dishes and supplement with protein-rich vegetables and plant-based alternatives.
  • Kitchen technology and usage behaviour
  • Regular cleaning, maintenance, efficient use and holiday shutdown of freezers and refrigerators, as well as replacement of obsolete appliances.
  • Replacement of oversized convection ovens and other cooking appliances
  • Energy-saving use of dishwashers Organisational measures
  • Short-term possibility of ordering and re-ordering lunch with individual menu sizes and pedagogical meal accompaniment in the primary school
  • Pedagogical integration of the topic of sustainable nutrition

The transformation to Poland took place in particular through train-the-trainer seminars as well as through the practical implementation of school projects at Polish schools and school kitchens by the Polish and German project partners, whereby the methodology developed at KEEKS was both adapted and communicated.

Although agriculture is responsible for around 13 % of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and an even larger proportion comes from land use changes (mostly from forest to agriculture), the topic of "food" is still relatively new in climate protection policy. The successful pilot project in Germany was intended to support the introduction of this topic in Poland. This seemed promising for two reasons: a) In Poland, too, a discussion has begun about a higher quality of school meals - so far for health and ecological reasons, but not for climate protection reasons. b) The organisational form of school catering (mix of independently cooking schools, caterers and tenants) is very similar in Poland and Germany.

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