The school meals of the future

Stronger cooperation and equal access to snacks

The Finnish Government Programme of Prime Minister Marin includes the objectives of preparing a development programme for school meals and implementing a Finnish model for leisure activities, the aim of which is to provide pupils with free-of-charge and meaningful leisure activities as part of the school day. This new model for leisure activities also presents the need to develop the meals provided over the course of the school day, such as snacks, to ensure that pupils have sufficient energy to participate in both lessons and leisure activities.

Pupils’ eating habits and the current state of school meals were studied in the Balanced School Lunch and Smart Snacks project. The results of the study were used as the basis for proposing measures for developing school meals. The aim of the proposed measures is to encourage policy-makers to promote efforts for making more attractive and increasing the quality of the Finnish innovation of equal and equality-promoting free-of-charge school meals. The proposed measures are aimed at national and municipal policy-makers, operators responsible for education and food services, principals and all adults operating in the school community.

• Tulevaisuuden kouluruokailu

  (12.04.2021)