Children's involvement in the setup of primary school canteens

City councilors of Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands have put together a proposal regarding children's involvement in the setup of primary school canteens.

Various factors influence children's experience of school meals and canteens, and it is important to consider their voices when planning the service. It is proposed that a one-year pilot project be undertaken where children in Reykjavíkurborg primary schools participate in the development of menus in their schools. It is also proposed that children be allowed to influence the setup of their canteens if they believe there is a need for change. The setup should focus on factors such as space organization and the length of meal times, for example. It is important to seek out children's experiences and opinions on school meals when planning menus and canteens. Children have called for more diverse food in canteens, and therefore it is proposed that they be consulted more extensively when planning menus in primary schools. Work will continue based on healthy food guidelines, but the children's input should be allowed to shape the menus.

For example, a random selection of children from all grades could be used to form groups by age group that plan menus and receive staff supervision as appropriate. The Department of Education and Leisure will be tasked with implementing the proposal's content with school councils, student associations, and the school community so that children's voices shape menus and canteen setups. The department will also be tasked with determining, in collaboration with the school community, which schools should start, whether all schools participate in the project simultaneously, or one school in each district to begin with. Before the pilot project begins, the amount of food waste in the school and the number of children subscribed to meals will be recorded. After the pilot project, a comparison will be made to see if any changes have occurred in these factors. These factors will also be monitored regularly during the pilot project. The goal of this is to monitor whether changes affect food waste and the number of meal subscriptions.

More diverse and better food is one of the things that child parliamentarians called for at a children's parliament held in 2019. Participants of the parliament were randomly selected from Þjóðskrá Íslands to get a diverse group of children to participate. In addition, children belonging to minority groups were specifically invited to participate so that this method reflected the diversity of children in the country.

Approximately 84% of primary school children in Reykjavík are registered for meal subscriptions according to a response letter to an inquiry from Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands dated February 15, 2021. The subscription varies by city district. Most children were registered for meals in the Háaleiti and Bústaðir district, or 90%, followed by 89% of children registered in Grafarholt-Úlfarsárdalur and the same percentage in Laugardalur. The fewest children were registered for meal subscriptions in Miðborg, or 76% of the children, followed by Breiðholt where 78% of the children were registered for meals.

A flat fee of 10,290 ISK per month is paid for meal subscriptions, and various reasons can explain why a child is not eating, including economic status. A socialist representative has put forward proposals that food should be free so that all children have access to food at school. Those proposals have not been successful. It is also important to ensure that children get to influence what is for dinner, as what is offered does not necessarily always appeal to them. A proposal from a representative in the Vesturbær Youth Council regarding an increased selection in primary school canteens was submitted on February 28, 2017, and concerned that primary school canteens should increase the selection of vegetarian and vegan options and ensure that food ingredient lists are accessible to students and parents. The proposal was referred for consideration to a working group on food policy, which addresses increased choice in canteens.

Reykjavíkurborg's Food Policy for the years 2018-2022 contains five overarching goals, each with its sub-goals. The item on increased consumption of plant-based food in the city's canteens and training in cooking vegetarian dishes is an important point here. If children and young people are calling for more choice in vegetarian dishes, it is important to offer such options. Reykjavíkurborg's food policy also addresses action against food waste, and as children get to choose what is for dinner and are more connected to the process, this is bound to reduce food waste. Here it is also important to examine whether children serve themselves or not and its connection to food waste.

6th-grade students at Háteigsskóli worked on an interesting project in February 2018 where they monitored food waste and weighed food scraps from 2nd-7th grade in the dining hall for a whole week and found that students threw away a lot of food. Over the entire week, 28.7 kg of food ended up in the trash. They found out what that food cost for the week, and it was 42,000 ISK for that one week, which corresponds to 1,512,000 ISK per school year. See morehere:

It is estimated that nationally, school food worth about 1.5 billion ISK is thrown away. This was stated by a representative of Máltíð, who reviewed Statistics Iceland's data on food portions in preschools and primary schools. By better organizing meals, food waste can be prevented. The socialist representative therefore believes it is important that those who eat the food have more say in what they should eat.

Reykjavíkurborg's Democracy Policy was recently introduced, and the present proposal regarding children's involvement in the setup of menus and canteens in primary schools aligns well with action number 16 in the democracy policy's plan, which addresses democracy in school and leisure activities. Among other things, it states that a plan will be put together for projects that increase democratic activity, strengthen democratic awareness, and critical thinking among children and young people in school and leisure activities.

Eating can be a social activity, and the organization of spaces plays a large role in the experience. It is therefore important to adopt a child-centered approach when designing canteens. Children have pointed out various factors that affect mealtime, including noise pollution, the length of mealtime, and whether they get to choose where they sit during mealtime. It is also important to consider where children who are not on a meal subscription sit, whether it is inside the canteen or not. When implementing this proposal, careful consideration must be given to reaching the voices of children who are not on a meal subscription without them feeling left out, as difficult circumstances often lie behind a child not being able to eat, e.g., poverty.