I've been reading these weeks and talking with parents about if school canteens respect their food decisions. The truth is that I have been looking for general regulations and I have lost myself among many documents that, in the end, nothing has clarified me, so I am going to tell you my experience, my opinion and I am going to ask you what you have lived.
Normative
School canteens must meet fairly strict hygiene standards and make their menus according to the advice of a doctor or nutritionist so that they are balanced, although we have already said that many times it is not as healthy as the menu they offer is appropriate.
I have understood that they are obliged to offer an adequate menu to children who, by strict medical prescription, have allergies or intolerances: such as children allergic to fish or celiac. Although sometimes serious mistakes are also made in this regard. We have a friend allergic to fish that has already taken two serious scares for this reason.
Religion and food
However, I have not found any general regulations that require us to offer a menu that is appropriate to the religious prescriptions, although in some schools adequate food is offered for Muslims (who do not eat pork) if there is a high percentage in the center.
I would be very worried that my son could not comply with the prescriptions of my religion if he had to eat at school. The truth is that I cannot understand that the religion of a child in school is not respected in something as basic as their diet when it is related to their beliefs or norms.
Buddhists, Hinduists, Muslims, Jews, whether many or few, like Catholics who do not eat meat on Fridays, or people who for ethical reasons choose not to eat animals, they have the right to be respected in our schools.
Ethical issues: vegetarianism
The case of vegetarian families I find it even more outrageous, because there is no guarantee that allows children who, well nourished, do not eat meat, can receive adequate food at school.
The ethical reasons why a family chooses not to consume animals should, in my opinion, be treated respectfully by the institutions and not force them not to use the dining rooms if they want their children to follow a diet in accordance with their decisions.
My experience
When my son was at school, I remember trying impose a snack for mandatory recreation for all and offered by the catering service. They would be industrial dairy products, yogurts of those with bifidus, industrial juices, unpeeled fruit and snacks of low-fat sausages.
The reason was, in principle, good: to prevent children from eating anything at that time or eating pastries, but, in my opinion, they were invading parents' freedom.
In principle this option did not interest me. The bread my son consumes is whole and homemade and at recess he used to take nuts. I did not like to drink dairy products or industrial juices, or sausages of a lower quality than what I decide, nor that they were going to pressure him to eat what he touched. That was against my decisions, our customs and the nutritional education that I offer. I firmly refused and were forced to withdraw the proposal.
Freedom in the dining room
However, if I had to use the dining room services I would have found that my opinions or decisions regarding food would be out of place.
I know that a school canteen cannot be a restaurant, but I do not understand that it cannot offer a certain variety of dishes suitable for all diners, nor that all proteins of animal origin are added when we know that, if a problem has the Children's diet is, among others, the excess of these.
Legumes, cereals, tubers, vegetables, salad, eggs and dairy products could be present daily as an easily eligible option and I also believe that children, within a logical variety, decide what they eat is positive.
At least now it is not as usual as when I was a child that children are forced to eat everything at school. Are steaks that come out of a shoe or baby pockets full of blandengue salad already a thing of another time?
They never forced me to eat something in my house that I did not like, let alone eat the whole dish if I did not fancy so much, and I hope that the children are no longer pressured to eat.
I guess things will be different in one center or another and it is impossible to generalize, but, if my child ate at school I would not like anything that I felt pressured to eat a food or an amount I rejected, precisely because in my house respect for his appetite is basic and that has given us an excellent result, making him know how to design a healthy and balanced diet.
So I would like you to tell me experiences to get an idea of whether in school canteens, parents' decisions regarding nutrition are respected.
In Babies and more | The consumption of fish in children's canteens is insufficient, Recommendations to families about school canteens, The school menu and the home menu should complement each other, Prevent obesity from school, Is eating at school educational?
