School canteens, in Belluno clash over menus. Parents are involved in the new race

BELLUNO. Parents and teachers will be involved to improve the quality of the meals served in the school canteens. The contract has been postponed by law, because schools have been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic for several months, and the companies that deal with the service have seen their activity suspended. In Belluno, Camst prepares and serves meals for students, whose contract with the Municipality has been postponed to December 31st. By that date, a new tender must be published and the manager of the service identified.

Precisely in view of this deadline, but also to address the issue of the quality of meals, which broke out a few days ago, the third council commission met last Tuesday. The request was made by Franco Roccon, alarmed by the quantity of reports received from parents on the quality of the food served in the canteens.

“CHILDREN DO NOT EAT”

“Children don’t eat,” Roccon complains. «The food arrives cold, the pasta is overcooked, and there is a problem with the menu: in four weeks no red meat is served, always chicken or turkey. Vegetables are always raw, never cooked. Pizza? A small square ».

“I make myself available to work together and solve the problem of food quality, which is not adequate”, adds Giangiacomo Nicolini, the group leader of Belluno D +. “I do not contest the work of the municipal offices, but the health of the children must always come first.”

Fabio Bristot also asked to review the quality of the food served, and then focused attention on the need to provide “at least 35% organic food in the next specifications” and to improve the discounts for income: “In Calalzo a meal in canteen without Isee costs € 2.50, 5.90 for us », denounces the councilor of the Misto.

PARENTS INVOLVED

The drafting of the tender specifications will see the involvement of the parents, assured the mayor Massaro, and of the teachers. The directors reiterated their willingness to participate in the drafting of the criteria.

Massaro in his intervention in the commission first of all denied the fact that the Municipality is not dealing with the issue: “There have been numerous meetings, with Camst and the comprehensive Institutes,” he explains. “But everything we did, it emerged clearly in the committee, was not explained to the parents. We are sorry that all the changes agreed, even with the Ulss, have not been communicated ».

NEW RULES FOR COVID

The quality of the food, Massaro admits, “is certainly different from the past, but it depends on the new regulations that have been decided following the pandemic,” he continues. “Food must be covered with cellophane and served on the floor, and this means, for example, that the pasta is boiled”. Furthermore, the delivery operation takes longer, which is why it can happen that the food gets cold.

MENU AND QUALITY

It is not even true, he adds, “that the menu is not varied. The menu is established by the dieticians of the Ulss, who define the quantity and type of food to be served to the children so that the diet is balanced. Furthermore, the Ulss itself carried out multiple surprise inspections, not finding irregularities on meals. I would also like to point out that canned tuna has never been served, and that the same food as the rest home, which has an internal kitchen, is not served ».

Fake news, Massaro specifies, “an unpleasant exploitation”.

Camst, concludes the mayor, is committed to improving the quality of food, «and the results are already visible. Now the offices are working on the new tender specifications, because the contract has been deferred ope legis to 31 December 2021. We will meet with the parents to involve them in the drafting of the criteria », assures Massaro.