School Meal Day serves as a reminder that free school meals are much more than just a source of energy.
“School lunch is an important part of every school day. It builds wellbeing and community and helps pupils focus on lessons," says Food Services Specialist Katja Peränen from the City of Helsinki Education Division.
According to Peränen, mealtimes also serve as learning events: pupils can practice table manners and taking other diners into consideration. At the same time, school meals provide a model for healthy eating habits.
“School meals also offer opportunities to explore new flavours and dishes that you might not necessarily eat at home. In addition to familiar favourites, I encourage everyone to try new flavours.”
Free school meals have been provided in Helsinki for over 80 years. Over the decades, meals have diversified and product development has become an important part of school meals.
Schools offer two hot lunch options every day, both of which pupils can enjoy freely. The meal also includes a salad bar with fresh vegetables, root vegetables or fruit in various forms, a drink and bread.
Food services focus on the taste and variety of food and take into account National Nutrition Recommendations. In school restaurants managed by Palvelukeskus Helsinki, students can give feedback on school food to influence menu planning.
“We regularly collect feedback on meals, for example through instant feedback devices in schools. Every year, we also ask about school food trends and favourite school foods in a wider customer satisfaction survey. From the responses, we pick out students' favourite foods to serve during the Wish List week in the autumn. In tasting panels, students have the opportunity to evaluate new dishes before they end up on the menu, and can thus influence the development of the dishes,” says Head of Service Tuulia Pelli from the food services of Palvelukeskus Helsinki.
