13/06/2006
Whole Kids Extract from the article in Australian Organic Journal
by James Meldrum, Co-founder of Whole Kids

With the increasing attention by parents, educators, nutrition experts and society in general on the role of school canteens in promoting healthy eating, can organics play a part in changing the school menu for our kids? Are there any examples from here or overseas we can learn from?

Healthy school meals can lead to better behaved students who are more alert in class, according to a report by the UK Soil Association. The report found that students who eat meals made with fresh (preferably organic), unprocessed ingredients have “better concentration, improved attention spans, are less likely to be hyperactive, and are calmer and more alert in class. They also have an increased capacity to learn and are less likely to be absent from school” (Soil Association, 2004).

Even a small change such as switching to organic milk can help children’s concentration and behaviour. According to the researchers in Wales, “organic milk contains 64% more Omega 3 fatty acids than non-organic milk. In some cases organic milk contains 240% more Omega 3 acids”. The researchers also claim that “behaviour problems often improve if you switch your child to organic milk…and that organic milk consumption, compared to non-organic milk, can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s” (Medical News, 2004).

It Can Be Done – Organics at the School Canteen
It is not just organic food companies that are encouraging a change to our canteen menus. Here and overseas, schools, organizations and governments are taking the initiative by removing junk food from canteens and introducing organic and healthy alternatives.

Since 2000, it has been obligatory to offer organic food in Italian schools. Although only 500 of 8,100 communities regularly offer organic meals or organic components for lunches for school children, more than 25% of Italian children eat organic, as most large cities adhere to the regulation. And in Emilia Romagna, legislation was passed requiring all day nurseries and primary schools in the region to offer exclusively organic meals to around 350,000 school children. (OCA, October 2004)

In France, around 300,000 organic meals are served each year in ten schools in Languedoc Rousillon and 400,000 a year in the Provence-Alpes-Cotes-d’Azur region (Soil Association, 2003).

South Africa has gone a step further through its EduPlant activities which promote the cultivation of organic food in schools across the country. EduPlant has reached 14,500 educators from over 12,000 schools around South Africa in the past nine years (OCA, September 2004).

At the University of California, USA, students can order organic salads prepared in the first-ever certified organic kitchen on an American college campus (OCA, April 2006).

Many schools in the UK have introduced organic food. For example, at St Peter’s Primary School in Nottingham, children still eat pizza, but the bases are homemade in the school kitchen using organic milk, organic oil and organic flour.

At the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a small, private graduate university in Monterey, California, with about 700 students from around the world, one activist student led the way to convert coffee sold on campus from conventional to about 90 percent organic and fair trade (OTA).

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