Hand in hand with the start of classes, the schools organize the gastronomic options and prices in the canteens. According to the educational institutions consulted by The Observer having a menu prepared at school for lunch can cost from $3,700 to $6,400 per month if the purchase of 20 menus per month is taken into account.
The price will vary depending on the institution, the menu and the grade that the students are in.
The Law 19,140 on Healthy Eating in Teaching Centers It requires institutions to have healthy options and foods suitable for celiacs and diabetics, so there is a diversity of options.
Serrana Blanco, nutritionist at the Elbio Fernández School and Lyceum, explained to The Observer that in that institution the price of the menu and of the snack options depends on the level at which each student attends: the younger the student, the smaller the portion and the cheaper the dish.
The initial education menu costs $185 per day ($3,700 per month); for the first level of primary school, from 1er to 3er degree, $195 daily ($3,900 monthly); for grades 4-6, $220 per day ($4,400 per month); and for high school $240 per day ($4,800 per month). Each menu includes dessert, which three times a week is fruit, homemade sweet preparations such as carrot cake, lemon pudding or flan.
In addition, the institution offers discounts for monthly coupons. If you buy a coupon with 10 menus, the discount is 10%; and if it is 20 menus the discount increases to 15%.
In addition to promoting a healthy eating initiative, the institution encourages the use and reuse of utensils, such as student tuppers, said the nutritionist.
Education at the table
At Queen’s School food and education go hand in hand, they explained from the institution. The Queen’s Kitchen is in charge of “Socrates Kitchen” a proposal that works from food health to the speed of food intake.
At that school, lunch costs $230 per day and snack combos, for example juice and fruit, cost $55. Meanwhile, the coupon book with 20 menus costs $4,300.
At the beginning of each month, the school shares the monthly menu with families through its app. Parents can order lunch each day via WhatsApp or also purchase the coupon book on the first days of each month.
The options are based on the guidelines of a nutritionist who seeks to promote balanced and healthy eating, indicated from this school.
control expenses
Matías Craviotto, one of the creators of order eathighlighted that in Uruguayan schools, unlike in Argentina, the consumption of menus is usually more sporadic: they are bought day by day and not by month.
Order eat is an application that digitizes the operation of school canteens and allows parents and students to order online, avoid lunch lines and eliminate cash handling. It currently works with more than 40 schools in Uruguay.
Saint George School students, for example, can purchase their menus through Order eat; From the institution it was highlighted that through the app you can keep a history of orders and with it control the expenses of the students in the school.
The different gastronomic options of the school dining room and cafeteria, which can be found in advance in the app, are in charge of the Oyenard catering service, which has a proposal with a focus “on children”, they indicated. With it, they seek for children and adolescents to easily incorporate healthy eating, recovering a taste for the flavors of homemade food, for which the team works with unprocessed ingredients and raw materials and without preservatives.
Expenses vary depending on each institution, but colleges using Order eat have options ranging from $230 to $300, he said.
By using this app you can see the food offer, control what students consume and how much money they spend on snacks, said Blanco, a nutritionist at Elbio Fernández. Some collations and snacks that are offered at that school are homemade alfajores, cheese scones or cookies that cost $30; rice pudding $45, natural smoothie $70 or fruit salad $45.
The Ministry of Public Health has a list of recommended foods and drinks with which it seeks to promote the consumption of natural foods and limit the intake of free sugars, trans fats and sodium. The law prohibits educational institutions from having containers with salt for students to add to already prepared foods.
White stressed that currently children have “a tendency to eat other types of things and in the smallest there is a better diet”, for example with fruits and the choice of water, over other drinks. In the case of primary or secondary students, trends change, as well as generations.
vegetarian options
At The Anglo School the menu is organized monthly and per day students have three options to choose from. As explained by the person in charge of food at the school, something that is respected every day is that one of the options is vegetarian, in addition, that options with a variety of meats, pastas, fruits and vegetables are offered per month.
The kindergarten menu costs $205 ($4,100 per month), the primary menu costs $230 ($4,600 per month) and the secondary menu costs $255 ($5,100 per month). All include bread and dessert and can be ordered through the school website, via Whatsapp or directly in the canteen. This is the same in the two campuses of the school, in Carrasco and in the Center.
Authorities of the institution highlighted that the canteen has fresh fruits, nuts and seeds, as well as homemade products such as cakes, scones, cookies or sandwiches. In addition, this school provides water and does not sell soft drinks, energy drinks or sweets.
Cauteruccio at school
The chef of the Uruguayan team, Aldo Cauteruccio, is in charge of the canteen at the International College of Punta del Este, and the restaurant that the school has, where parents usually go for lunch with their children, the chef told Coffee & Business.
The restaurant offers à la carte dishes such as rib eye, salmon, entrecote and different salads. Also, there are cafeteria options.
The canteen has a monthly menu and a daily menu that includes dessert. There are two options per day, one of them vegan. Through an app, parents can choose what their children will eat.
The average price of the menus in the International College canteen is $320 ($6,400 per month). Some options can be ravioli, vegetable protein burgers, fish milanese with puree and salads.
The chef stressed that there are healthier eating trendswhat “comes from home”, for example because exercising and complementing physical activity with a healthy diet is chosen more than before, for this reason nowadays children choose more fruits and vegetables. Also, he highlighted that 95% of single-use plastics were eliminated in the school canteen and restaurant, in pursuit of a commitment to caring for the environment.
