| (i) |
In collaboration with the National Institute for Public Health, the Extended Professional College for Paediatrics, and the Nutrition and Dietetics Association, we will conduct a health review and develop new healthy eating guidelines for children and adolescents in educational institutions, as well as for students. Led by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities, we will initiate the renovation of the student nutrition system.
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| (ii) |
Led by the Ministry of Health, we will write new “planetary health” and sustainable eating guidelines for the general adult population in Slovenia (i.e., the Slovenian food plate). We will consider nutritional and health implications, Slovenian culinary traditions, cultural contexts, environmental factors (i.e., carbon and water footprint, water and soil health, food loss and waste, biodiversity), and socioeconomic (accounting for the most vulnerable populations) and communication elements.
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| (iii) |
Pilot projects led by the Ministry of Education will focus on the renovation of dining halls, the establishment of regional central school kitchens and school ecogardens, improving national standards for dietitians in primary schools, and integrating the food catalogue of the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia.
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| (iv) |
Led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food and the relevant stakeholders, we will tackle food waste, working together with the public and private sectors to better find solutions to deal with food waste and food waste prevention. The main activities are within the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste [138,139].
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| (v) |
To encourage and promote public sector leadership in healthy and sustainable diets by supporting public institutions in changing their menu to be healthier and more sustainable, the benefits of plant-based menu options in public institutions were reviewed, considering food appreciation, food waste reduction, feasibility surveys, health and environmental calculations, and examples of existing practices in Slovenia (the canteen of the Slovenian government, some kindergartens, and schools), Portugal [47], Italy [42,140,141], the UK [142], Finland [143], Spain [144], Sweden [43], the USA [145,146,147,148,149,150], and Brazil [46]). It will be necessary for the government to incentivise innovation and to invest in a healthy and sustainable food system, including reforming standards for buying more fresh, seasonal, sustainable foods from local farmers and implementing a mandatory system to support public institutional canteens in raising standards towards healthy and sustainable options.
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| (vi) |
The Slovenian Strategic Council for Nutrition works closely with the Ministry of the Environment, Climate, and Energy, which provides financial support for several of the aforementioned activities. Their vision aims to contribute to the transformation of Slovenian agriculture into a more regenerative, resilient, sufficient, and efficient system, to increase the area under organic agriculture and reduce food’s environmental impacts throughout the entire food supply chain, from producers to consumers. One of their initiatives is leading a pilot project to establish a methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of menus in public schools, funding cooking workshops for school cooks and nutritionists, and providing a range of educational materials and recipes; the overarching goal is to improve various aspects of Slovenia’s food sustainability index.
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| (vii) |
Led by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the digital transformation of the agricultural and food sectors will be undertaken, intending to achieve sustainable and resilient food systems and the digitisation of food procurement and meal preparation processes in public institutions.
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| (viii) |
The monthly meetings of the Working Groups of the Slovenian Strategic Council for Nutrition incorporate diverse examples of successful global and local dietary practices in educational institutions, including proposing specific solutions to ensure the availability of healthy plant-based menu options alongside the existing balanced mixed meals; implementing such changes requires structural and personnel modifications to support this expanded choice.
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