The number of children eating in the school canteen at Pablo Picasso school in Manilva has plummeted since the start of term. Children returned to school mid-September to be presented with canteen food bearing little resemblance to the meals that they had previously enjoyed. The new system of heating up pre-cooked food prepared on average ten days before has not been well received by concerned local parents, who had not been warned about the change, prior to the decision made by the Junta de Andalucia.
In a bid to convince parents of the nutritional benefits of their menu, two representatives of the catering company came to school to meet with parents. Sceptical parents requested to taste the food and the company eager to dispel doubts obliged and even offered transport to inspect their kitchens in Malaga. Consequently and contrary to their intentions, a flux of parents decided to make the decision to withdraw their children from “comedor” leaving behind just those children whose parents have no other choice, due to work obligations, but to leave their children in the service.
It isn´t just the inadequate quality of the food that has disappointed both parents and children alike but the unforseen price increase to as much as four euros fifty per child per day. It is believed by some that this was the intention of the Junta, to strip the service down to a facility for working parents with no other choice, focusing on running it as a minimal cost business. This shift in ideology contradicts the Junta’s traditional priorities concerning nutrition including educating families to bring in home made rolls and cakes for breakfasts rather than factory produced products.
Local families are bitterly disappointed as the school kitchen was more than just a sterile facility with mediocre food but a homely whilst educational enviroment where the familar staff encouraged the children to eat their freshly cooked food. The Junta´s blatant attempt to cut back on the school kitchen provision has had an impact on the lives of local residents. Heating food requires less staff than cooking from scratch, this coupled with parents withdrawing children from the service has resulted in job losses. Local grandparents are extra burdened with the added responsibility of providing the lunch time meal, which is of course, the main meal of the day. And for those parents that have no other choice but “make do” with the new comedor there is the added worry that their children aren´t eating like they did before.
Just like their Secadero counterparts, Manilva parents are uniting to bring back the old system. The Manilva campaign is underway as they are collecting signatures for a petition to be sent to education minister Mar Moreno and are also in talks with TVE programme España Directo for national TV coverage.
To follow the progress go to: www.comedoresencrisis.com