Argues that the quality of the environment, and of course of human and non‐human life, depends on everybody's behaviour (men and companies). Laws are needed but above all it is…
Abstract
Argues that the quality of the environment, and of course of human and non‐human life, depends on everybody's behaviour (men and companies). Laws are needed but above all it is essential that nature conservation is everybody's goal – governments, companies and anonymous citizens. In companies it is the administration's duty to make decisions and it is accounting's duty to present relevant information about patrimonial realities that help in the decision‐making process of every user. Does accounting have the duty to reveal what is being done with the natural resources? Yes. Aims to find out what Portuguese companies have been doing about this matter. The annual reports and accounts, from 1997 to 2001, of a group of ten Portuguese companies representative of their industrial sectors, were scrutinised. The companies were chosen because of their undoubted environmental impacts. All were asked: are they presenting environmental information? Where is this information presented ? What kind of information is being presented? How are they presenting it?
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Rita Melo, João Lima, Ana Lúcia Baltazar, Ezequiel Pinto and Sónia Fialho
The purpose is to analyse the nutritional adequacy and carbon footprint of intermediated meals provided to preschool children and primary-level students in a Portuguese…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to analyse the nutritional adequacy and carbon footprint of intermediated meals provided to preschool children and primary-level students in a Portuguese municipality.
Design/methodology/approach
An observational cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sampling consisting of school snacks from a Portuguese municipality. The nutritional assessment used food labels and a Portuguese food composition table. The literature review for carbon footprint assessment was conducted by searching for the products under analysis or similar ones.
Findings
The results showed that 80% of snacks have a higher energy value than recommended. The majority of options are below recommendations for protein and fat and above recommendations for carbohydrates. The intermediated meals with more dairy products in composition have the highest carbon footprint. The carbon footprint included the packaging of the products, and it wasn't possible to determine the influence of non-food products.
Research limitations/implications
This study has limitations in the fact that we do not know the carbon footprint of Portuguese products and we had to compare them with others, from different countries, with possibly different types of production.
Practical implications
Intermediate meals are inadequate, and the carbon footprint is higher when the intermediated meals include products of animal origin – the reason why the composition of intermediated meals should be redesigned considering the achievement of these targets.
Social implications
The promotion of intermediated meals that promote the Mediterranean eating pattern contributes to health and well-being and is a vehicle for nutrition education and healthy food consumption in schools.
Originality/value
Many studies have been conducted to analyse the carbon footprint and environmental impact of school meals, but commonly lunch is the meal evaluated and the assessment of intermediated meals' impact is an open field.