Less meat, more groats and locally-grown fresh vegetable and herbs. This is the new lunch menu for kindergarten No. 3 in Skawina, Poland. Based on the work of local Eco-team, the school started its way toward more responsible eating and living.
The food audit carried out by the Eco-team at the beginning of the school year showed that there was too much meat and too few locally-grown products on the menu. This was an impulse for change!
Educational workshops and meetings
Changes to the menu are not always easy. Therefore, the Eco-team decided to inform children and parents about their plans. The children produced many informative materials such as brochures and newspaper and together with the teachers they came up with an idea to organize several meeting and workshops to learn about the impacts of our food consumption on the planet.
Children at Eco-team meeting.
Culinary workshops were organized to introduce children to upcoming changes to the menu. They learned how groats enrich our diet and what impacts eating too much meat have. During the workshop, kids with parents prepared fruit and vegetable juices using products from local farmers.
During a series of three meetings, kindergarten teachers and parents learned and discussed about responsible consumption, the role of the kindergarten in shaping food habits and the importance of local and seasonal food.
Workhops for teachers and parents.
New ingredient and less meat
The kindergarten also started a discussion about a new ingredient that would make the menu more responsible. It should occasionally replace meat, be nutritious and tasty, and provide the basis for many different meals. Consultations with the kindergarten dietitian and with parents showed that groats could be the answer!
Several families took part in a competition for preparing a cookbook of recipes based on different varieties of groats. The most interesting recipes were awarded prizes by the competition jury.
Cookbooks created by parents.
The kindergarten’s menu went through significant changes. During the year in the project, the kindergarten managed to introduce 3 meat-free meals per week. This year children enjoy 2 vegetarian meals every week. The meals were enriched with different kinds of groats, rice, and whole-grain pasta.
From garden to plate
Another goal set in the beginning of the school year was to add more local fruit and vegetables to the menu. The first step was to familiarise children with local food and with seasonality. This was done in cooperation with the town library of Skawina, which organised a meeting for older children. They explored local products typical for different regions of Poland, learned about traditional foods eaten by their grandparents’ generation and found out how to prepare preserves for winter from seasonal fruit.
All age groups of children got engaged in growing their own vegetables and herbs in the garden. With the arrival of spring, children sowed vegetable and herb seeds in flowerpots, which were later replanted in the school kindergarten. Parents got involved in gardening work together with their children, who participated with great interest and enthusiasm. Herbs and vegetables were used during culinary workshops and in the kitchen.
School garden.
Responsible picnic
At the end of the school year, the kindergarten organised a picnic for children and their parents. Children created informative posters and proudly showed off the changes in the garden to their parents. Together with kindergarten teachers they prepared dishes and drinks from vegetables from local producers. A competition for parents was organised to check their knowledge about responsible food consumption.
Competition for parents during the responsible picnic.
All these activities throughout the whole year led not only to changes in the menu but also helped children to better understand that our everyday choices have a big impact on the world and that every small change really matters.
