In December, the French department of Dordogne opened their doors to the SchoolFood4Change consortium partners. The participants, which came from all Europe, had the opportunity to learn about the model developed by Dordogne, which offers 100% organic, local, home-made and seasonal meals in secondary school canteens.
In one of our previous posts, we already had documented Dordogne´s incredible effort in providing healthy, organic and nutritious meals to their students. This time, our partner Marijke Van Ranst travelled to France and saw the Dordogne´s case with her own eyes. What she found was a beautiful example of what SchoolFood4Change is all about.
Eight years ago, Dordogne made a policy choice with a clear vision: healthy food in schools must also be sustainable, 100% organic and maximally local.
The great thing about the situation in Dordogne is that it is supported from different policy levels and by all stakeholders, from agriculture, economy and education. It is the cooperation between all these actors that make this is a very strong story. Another strength is that they use a step by step approach, “kitchen by kitchen”, which is very pragmatic. After all, the kitchens must have the sufficient infrastructure. This is something we are definitely not on a par with, in Flanders. In Dordogne, every meal is prepared in-house, and with great results! Today, 13 of the 35 kitchens already work with 100% organic food, 70% of which is local and 100% home-mad, and without waste too! For instance, they also buy entire animals or half carcasses, from which they then make their own broth or sausages.This is all done in their own kitchen, it´s amazing!
– Marjike Van Ranst
The visit lasted a day and a half and involved a visit of a local farm, of a supplier, of two school canteens and a dairy factory nearby. One kitchen involves direct collaboration with the farmers, the other supplies them through a cooperative platform that handles the distribution.
At one of the schools, the children displayed their own vegetable garden. There is also a menu committee per school on which students sit, because of this the students are very enthusiastic.
– Marjike Van Ranst
ABout the study Visit
This two day fieldtrip collected the view and reflections of the partners from Estonia, Germany, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, Spain, Austria and France, which represented not only their countries, but their different cultures and lifestyles as well. Over the course of the two days, participants were able to compare the practices in their own countries with those in Dordogne. By doing so, they got inspiration for future policies and strategies in their own municipalities. Moreover, getting a better look and understanding of the 100% organic canteen project, was also important to see how Dordogne met and overcame many of the challenges that each municipality in the consortium faces in the project:
- The promotion of tasty, healthy and nutritious school meals;
- The protection of the environment;
- The relocation of the canteen’s food supply;
- The support to local agriculture businesses, supporting short supply chains and the work of small scale farmers.
If the mission of SchoolFood4Change is to make food in school canteens more sustainable, with an emphasis on organic food, Dordogne is already pretty far along in this, although they have definitely benefited from the project. Since its start in 2022, Dordogne started an amazing exchange of knowledge with the consortium partners, which has led to great achievements.
