When the day ends, the boys and girls of the Joan Torredemer public school in Matadepera, an inland town about 50 kilometers from Barcelona, leave what is left in their canteens in a bucket. That water will be used to water the garden. Starting this year, the center carries out a food audit. In it, each diner in the school cafeteria separates what is left over from their plate and records its weight according to three categories: wasted food, remains (peels, bones or thorns) and water. The balance is evaluated weekly, and it is the students themselves who propose ideas for improvement. For example, do not fill the glasses to the top or, as far as possible, serve the portions themselves, depending on how hungry they are.
“In our developed world we have unlimited access to food. In fact, at any time of the year, not just in season. “This makes food lose value” – This is how Susagna Escardíbul, pedagogue and part of the team at the Catalan Foundation of l’Esplai (Fundesplai), regrets it. She has developed the pedagogical program around the prevention of food waste in the almost 300 schools in which she manages the midday educational time, the Joan Torredemer center among them. In reality, there is food education whenever the activity you organize, whether it is an excursion, coexistence or camping, includes some food.
Causes of food waste
Escardíbul believes that one of the causes of food waste is the disconnection between production and consumption. “There is so much distance between the two that there are minors who think that a tomato grows on supermarket shelves,” he details. The antidote or vaccine is to go to the source and visit the farmers and markets. This way you can see what it costs to produce, also participate in the school garden or learn about recipes for use.
2024-03-08 00:59:35
#Education #schools #effective #vaccine #food #waste
