Integrating School Meal Nutrition Standards into Legislation through a Right to Food Lens

On 30 September 2026, FAO and WFP, in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNED), organised the global online event “Nourishing Futures: Integrating school meal nutrition standards into legislation through a Right to Food lens.” 

The event brought together parliamentarians, parliamentary advisers and legislative staff to examine how school-meal nutrition guidelines and standards could be incorporated into national policy and legal frameworks. The discussion placed school meals within the broader right to adequate food, highlighting the role of legislation in ensuring that children have access to nutritious, safe and adequate food at school.

The event also explored how stronger legal and policy frameworks could help translate nutrition standards into sustainable national school-meal programmes. By bringing together perspectives from the food, nutrition, education and legislative sectors, FAO and WFP aimed to support parliamentarians and policymakers in understanding the practical links between nutrition standards, legislation and children’s rights. The session provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and consider how legal frameworks could strengthen accountability and help ensure that school food policies contribute to healthier and more equitable food systems.