Pacific school food programs to link student health and local farmers

Date released

19 June 2025

In the Pacific region, schools have the potential to play an important role in improving student health and educational outcomes, at the same time as supporting agricultural development for local smallholder farmers.

An ACIAR-supported project has analysed school food initiatives in the 22 Pacific island countries and territories to identify current and recent programs. The project has also considered an ‘optimal model’ to link sustainable school food programs with local food production systems.

School food benefits

Project leader Dr Sarah Burkhart at the University of the Sunshine Coast said there has been increasing interest in school food programs around the world over the past decade, particularly in Europe and the US.

Globally, the health, educational, social and economic benefits of school meal programs have been valued at US$9 for every US$1 invested (AU$13 for every AU$1.50). This figure does not capture the wider benefits of food systems transformation and agricultural development, linking local farmers and local foods.

‘Locally grown and sourced food offers a nutritious, healthy and efficient way to provide school children with a daily meal while improving opportunities for smallholder farmers and supporting local rural economies,’ said Dr Burkhart.

‘But in the Pacific region there has been little attention on how school programs can link to local producers, support local job creation and improve livelihoods. There’s also a lack of data around child nutrition in the region.’

The project focused on ‘school food provision’. This included school feeding programs, where schools provided meals or snacks and the operation of school canteens, as well as school gardens, and other event-based initiatives.

Children standing together wearing backpacks — Children in Vanuatu. Photo: Conor Ashleigh

Identifying school food programs in the Pacific

A review of formal scientific literature on programs in the Pacific region found few published articles on school food programs. This led the research team to interview key participants in the programs they could identify, conduct surveys and host a virtual workshop to share information about programs in different countries.

Researchers also examined nutritional and local sourcing policies and practices to identify how these might better support school food initiatives.

Dr Burkhart said they identified 22 school feeding programs. These ranged from boarding school meals to providing a single meal or snack, to running school canteens.

Eight programs required the use of local foods and 2 others reported sourcing local foods, although it was not a specific requirement.

Of the 7 programs where contract information was available, 6 had informal supply agreements with farmers. Only one program had a formal agreement. Eight programs used nutrition guidelines.

Researchers also identified 11 school garden programs. Four of the school garden programs used produce to supplement school feeding programs on varying scales. Others distributed the garden produce to students, their families and teachers to take home or use in cooking classes.

As part of this project, information on these programs has been compiled into the Pacific School Food Activity Database. This is available through the Pacific School Food Network, as a reference for others planning school food provision projects.

A realistic program model

Dr Burkhart said stakeholders involved in surveys and discussions indicated their ‘ideal’ model would be based predominantly or completely on local foods. However, they also recognised that this was not realistic because some foods were not available locally and supply chains for local foods were often unreliable.

‘A hybrid model of part locally produced food, part imported food was suggested as a good starting point for school meals programs,’ said Dr Burkhart. ‘A hybrid model is more likely to be successful, with an aim of moving towards incorporating more locally produced foods over time.’

Participants identified challenges including finances, the availability of foods – both low availability of local foods and high availability of highly processed foods – and children’s taste preferences.

They advocated links to school curriculum and opportunities to integrate both basic agricultural skills and nutritional education as part of a ‘whole of school’ approach to support school feeding programs.

Dr Burkhart said many stakeholders also pointed out there were few policies at either local or national level – such as links to curriculum – to support these programs.

‘They highlighted the need to involve many government sectors, such as education, health and agriculture, as well as the private sector, to make programs successful and sustainable.’

Policy review

Ms Mikayla Hyland-Wood (ACIAR Horticultural Research Officer at the time) assisted with the review of nutritional and agricultural policies supporting school food programs.

‘Incorporating local agriculture into school food programs can help with improved nutrition and food security. It’s also an emerging opportunity to promote food sovereignty in the Pacific region,’ said Ms Hyland-Wood.

‘While the money to run programs is always a challenge, there are multiple benefits and added value in this homegrown approach. You need to see it not as a cost, but more as an investment in the next generation and an investment in our children.’

The project is one of several human nutrition initiatives supported by ACIAR in the Pacific region, where there are increasing rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Poor diet is identified as one of the key contributing risk factors.

Plate of vegetable chips — School food programs can incorporate locally produced foods, such as these chips made from root vegetables and cassava.

Supporting local priorities

Research for Development Adviser with the Pacific Community (SPC) Dr Ramona Stephanie Sulifoa played a key role in the project, linking researchers to different stakeholders as part of the consultation process.

Dr Sulifoa said as the research identified the different kinds of school food programs, it also became clear that many programs were short-lived.

‘This was valuable information that will help us better understand the mechanisms already in place, or which needed to be in place to allow programs to continue operating, to support improved nutrition for younger generations,’ she said.

Dr Sulifoa said partnerships with organisations such as ACIAR were valuable in undertaking research for development, providing technical and scientific support to guide decisions that addressed nutritional concerns within the region.

‘But, ultimately, it is important that countries themselves drive these priorities,’ she noted.

‘The research has identified those countries that are actively building school food programs and that want to invest more in these initiatives. The information collected about the different school food programs can be used by those countries to support future research and investment.’

Further research related to Pacific school food initiatives will be overseen by ACIAR Research Program Manager, Horticulture, Dr Sandra McDougall. She sees potential opportunities to link Australian and Pacific school food networks to share resources and learning in the future.

ACIAR Project: ‘Understanding School Food Provision in the Pacific: Scoping the potential of local food systems to improve diets, nutrition and livelihoods’ (HORT/2021/159)