Children will eat “organic” but only half, until March 2023. The persistence of the economic and energy crisis is also reflected on the tables in the school canteen with the reduction of the short chain for all food products, from dairy products to fruit and vegetables to meat and fish, and the “topping up” with 100% non-organic foods.
To complain and report this problem is the Camst company, to which the assignment for school catering has been renewed for the current year. As highlighted and described in the decision by the Municipality, last month the company requested a derogation from the supply of some short-chain products, as per the service contract, due to procurement difficulties from the suppliers it uses and who can concern from time to time yogurt, eggs and fruit juices, fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, bread, rice, flour, potatoes and polenta, dairy products, meat and derivatives, fish. The Municipality granted the derogation, which however could not be limited to December 1st, considering that the supply problems persist. It is granted until the end of March next year.
But the Municipality, through the offices, has recommended that “as a percentage of organic and other references, it remains stable at 50 percent”. And it provides that “notification is given to the offices whenever the product in question is replaced”.
It is not excluded that other derogations may be granted if the situation should remain critical in the near future. But if “the substitution of the products will bring down the minimum required percentage of organic envisaged in the service contract”, the Municipality will have to “provide for a revision of the final price to the company”.
In the Belluno area, for years, school catering has also focused on social agriculture and fair trade. The Camst company has been dealing with school canteens in the province for years and this year the service was reconfirmed, among other Municipalities, by Cesiomaggiore.