Fine prize for school food project

SFIN’s project led by Margareta Schildt-Landgren demonstrated that it is possible to prepare food for schoolchildren based on locally produced raw materials even on a limited budget. Now Friends of School Meals have appointed Bladin’s school as “Star Restaurant.”

The “Locally Produced School Food” project was financed by SFIN, the city of Malmö, and Taste Skåne. The aim was to ascertain whether it is possible to serve food prepared from locally produced, and preferably ecological, raw materials for the same price as the ordinary school food.

“We know that many young people consume bad fare, and we wanted to make school lunchtime a pleasurable experience,” says project leader Margareta Schildt-Landgren, who is a Home Economics teacher and writes about food. “We also wanted to integrate food into a teaching perspective that is among other things based on getting children to understand the connection between food and health.”

Among other things, the evaluation shows that kitchen staff find it is more enjoyable to work, and that better food results in more pupils who eat properly, and that was also observed in their schoolwork. Yet it also reveals that there are problems that must be solved before school menus based on locally produced ingredients can be available on a larger scale — among other things, the accessibility of large amounts of raw materials is unresolved, and the official purchasing directives often put quantity before quality.

“We have shown that it can be done,” says Margareta Schildt-Landgren. “The best proof of that is that the Blandin school has decided to continue on this track even after the test period. And it is just plain wonderful that is has been rewarded with a fine prize from Friend of School Meals. Now it is time to push on, so that more schools can profit from our experiences.”