A school canteen doesn’t have to be just a place where children receive lunch according to a fixed menu. There are schools that take school meals to a higher level – involving pupils in decision-making, teaching them responsibility, and at the same time looking for ways to reduce food waste.
One example is a model in which the children themselves participate in creating the menu. Each class chooses meals they like, proposes their own lunches, and these are then gradually incorporated into the menu. The goal is not only to increase student satisfaction. The pupils also actively take part in measuring leftover food, collecting data, and analyzing it. The finding was clear – children eat more and enjoy more what they have chosen themselves, which naturally reduces the amount of waste.
How can legislation, nutritional standards, school meal regulations, financial limits, modern trends, and, at the same time, children’s enjoyment of lunch, be combined in practice? Manager of school canteen at Besst schools in Trnava, Ing. Lucia Naďová, shares her experiences.
