"AS LONG AS IT TASTES GOOD": STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE-FRIENDLY SCHOOL MEALS IN A MIXED-METHODS STUDY

Shifting toward sustainable diets is key to reducing the environmental impact of food systems. In school meals, this often involves meat reduction through strategies such as all-vegetarian days and lower-carbon recipe reformulation. Yet students' perceptions of such concrete menu changes have received little attention. This convergent mixed-methods study examined students' perceptions of climate-friendly school meals and their interpretations of meat reduction. Quantitative survey data from 1,268 students across six Swedish schools were analyzed using multiple regression, alongside qualitative data from student discussions analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative findings suggested that lower-carbon recipe reformulation was more acceptable to students than vegetarian-only days. Quantitative analysis showed that more positive attitudes toward climate-friendly school meals were associated with perceiving climate considerations as important in food choice, more frequent selection of vegetarian meals at school, and being female. Students also showed clear awareness of the relative carbon footprint of red meat and plant-based foods across support levels. Qualitative findings, however, highlighted that the acceptability of climate-friendly meals depended strongly on perceived taste and satiety. Meat was positioned as a normative component of a meal, while acceptance of vegetarian meals was more conditional on familiarity and palatability. These findings corroborate earlier research showing that taste, familiarity, and meal norms shape acceptance of meat reduction in school meals more strongly than sustainability concerns alone. They also indicate that lower-carbon recipe reformulation may complement vegetarian-only days as a practical strategy for supporting acceptance and intake of climate-friendly school meals.