At be. Living, food is part of our pedagogical process. We believe that one of our roles as a school is to help our children develop a conscious and healthy relationship with food.
When we think of the school space and all that it has to offer children, we are also considering the “lunch time” – a pleasant moment of sharing, in which children look into each other’s eyes, learn about what they are putting into their bodies and understand that food is a fuel for both the body and soul.
Children have the opportunity to experience a variety of foods and flavors during childhood. In this phase, food preferences are formed, and they start developing connections between senses, memories and feelings of pleasure. This first experience with food is very important for human beings and will shape their eating habits throughout their life.
As we plan to return to face-to-face classes, we reflected upon how to provide lunch in the pandemic scenario. We decided that we would not deprive children from such an important learning experience and committed ourselves to face this challenge in the most responsible way possible, in strict compliance with all safety protocols.
Thus, the children went back to this important space of autonomy – kept 1.50 m apart through acrylic shields –, and once again started to look each other in the eyes and share this enriching knowledge experience filled with pleasure, joy and in the company of their schoolmates.
With the return of our students, the school is regaining its social function by getting them back to this common space of exchange, which they had been away from since 2020 and had direct impact on their mental health and emotional well-being.
According to our nutritionist Cristiane Cedra, lunch time has been very important for children in this pandemic context. “Because of social distancing rules, they have been deprived of many activities. Families no longer meet friends and family on weekends and there are no more gatherings and birthday celebrations. By creating this opportunity, we are allowing children to sit with their friends once again, have a good time, eat a healthy meal prepared with love, develop autonomy, and receive nutritional education. We are sparing no efforts to provide the safest and most pleasurable environment possible at this time.”
Cris explained that the procedures for controlling the virus are being followed to the letter. “The tables are equipped with acrylic shields, children are seating 1.50m away from each other in the cafeteria, meals are served a la carte. In the kitchen, we are strictly following all safe food handling rules and practices. We have trained staff to prepare and serve meals to minimize the risk of infection. The school also provided children an identified mask holder, so the dirty masks are separate from clean ones. There are no agglomerations in the cafeteria and bathrooms before, during or after meals.”
She says these early days of lunch have been very rewarding. “The atmosphere is always pleasant and the children are respecting the guidelines. We encountered some challenges regarding food acceptance – something we expected since the children had been away from their school lunch routine for some time. If we see that the children are not accepting the food, we take a step back. We start building awareness again, then we change once they are prepared to accept the new.”
It is important to say that the school space is filled with procedures that regulates children’s behavior. At lunchtime, for example, all lunch procedures help create a routine that leads to effective learning. Thus, the school lunch time has once again contributed to our little ones’ learning process. As a school, we are very happy to provide this moment again for the children.