– You don’t fight or argue with those you eat with. That’s what school cook Erik Lindstrøm says at Skjelnan school in Tromsø. He has ten years’ experience, and believes that school meals are about far more than filling stomachs. At this school, the door to the school kitchen is open. Has a student forgotten their lunch pack, needed to get fleas out of their blood, got into small or major conflicts; then they can take the trip for a small snack – or a time-out. In the cold room at the school is food that has been bought in, and food that has been donated by convenience stores. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen This morning three restless 6th graders come by. Peder, Elias and Adrian are also a little hungry. During the hour news is here, a further 4-5 students arrive on the same errand. Chef Erik offers homemade fish sticks fried in crushed corn flakes, sesame seeds and grill flour, with yoghurt aioli. – We were allowed to leave class for ten minutes. We were very lucky to come here now. It was difficult to concentrate today, say the boys. They cannot boast enough about the food and the company they get from the school cook. From left, Peder Navjord (10), Elias Naderi (10) and Adrian Emanuel Olsen (10) are in the 6th grade at Skjelnan school. They will miss chef Erik when he leaves, but hope another good chef will take over. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen The debate about whether all schools should have school meals is almost as old as the lunch box itself. On this one, for the record; at this public school, the parents have gone to great lengths to make it happen. – You have to be a bit creative Headmaster Rune Thorsteinsen, says that for years they wanted to prioritize nutritious food for the after-school pupils. Step by step they made it happen. He says the expanded school kitchen acts as an educational strength for the school. They combined the school’s and SFO’s limited budget to pay for the school cook. Headmaster Rune Thorsteinsen in front of the school’s freezer and cooling room. The room, as well as the extension of the kitchen, was paid for by the parents at the school. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen – You may have to be a little creative to get school food into the budget, says Thorsteinsen. Lindstrøm was hired, but he was dependent on larger freezer and refrigerator rooms, as well as an extension of the kitchen itself, to be able to do the job properly. This would make too big a dent in the budget. Then the parents stepped in. – The parents paid for the upgrades. We are very grateful for that, says Thorsteinsen. Thorsteinsen says Lindstrøm does far more than feed stomachs: – When you work as a school cook, you also work a lot in the “in-between spaces”. Children who have forgotten their packed lunches, haven’t eaten well, maybe there was a bit of an argument at home before they left home, then they can always come into the kitchen, he says. The headmaster thinks that the school gets a lot in return for prioritisation. Dad Stig Pettersen is happy that the parents wanted to join in upgrading the freezer and fridge in the school kitchen. In this way, the school gains economies of scale and can store larger quantities of food. Here with daughter Mathilde in the school kitchen. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen Getting date goods from convenience stores The school keeps costs down by getting surplus food and date goods from convenience stores. And with the large cold room, they can receive large quantities. In this way, the school also provides the children with important, practical knowledge about avoiding food waste. The headmaster hopes for fixed allocations for school meals, so that other schools can also get the offer. Principal Rune Thorsteinsen says that they receive quantities of surplus food or food that is approaching its expiry date from the convenience stores. Here with today’s fruit donation. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen In debates about school meals, it is often pointed out that teachers’ competence must be raised before advice on school meals is sought. But Thorsteinsen does not see this as a contradiction: – I think it is possible to have two thoughts in your head at the same time. Competence is important, but I also believe that we as a school have an important role in serving children nutritious food that has not been processed to death in advance. And he receives support from the Directorate of Health. – Potential lifelong gains Linda Granlund is divisional director for public health and prevention in the Norwegian Directorate of Health. She says nutritious, well-prepared school meals are very important for children and young people – both for their physical and mental health, in the short and long term. The Norwegian Directorate of Health has thoroughly mapped this for years. A Swedish study concluded in 2021 that children who received school meals throughout primary school were educated longer, had a 3 per cent higher income throughout their lives – and were almost a centimeter taller. This was compared to those who did not receive school meals. Linda Granlund, division director in the Directorate of Health, hopes more Norwegian schools will follow the national advice on varied, nutritious school meals. Photo: Thomas Koonce Granlund also says nutritious meals for school-aged children are a long-term investment. – The gains can be big if the students take the good habits with them further in life. The Directorate of Health has several times recommended the introduction of free school meals in line with dietary recommendations in Norwegian schools, she says. One of chef Erik’s specialties is homemade fish sticks. news’s emissary barely had time to take a picture of the dish before the children had eaten it all. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen Granlund hopes more schools see the importance of school meals. To show how food affects concentration, the Directorate of Health carried out an experiment a few years ago: The video supports the school cook Erik’s hypothesis: children on empty or nutrient-poor stomachs have poor conditions for learning in the classroom. From this summer, the Norwegian Directorate of Health introduced new regulations on the environment and health in nurseries, schools and after-school care. It says, among other things, that: The directorate is now working to get national advice, tools and recommendations on school meals out to all Norwegian schools. But Granlund can’t promise money on the table, just deliver the specialist expertise. The political governing parties are in power. School meals are also up for debate in this year’s election campaign. The parties’ views on free school meals Red: Says yes to free school meals. SV: Will introduce free and healthy school meals. Nutrition is important for learning. The Labor Party: Will introduce a healthy, simple school meal during the day and give schools the freedom to organize this themselves. The Center Party: Will introduce a healthy school meal for pupils in primary and secondary school which is designed in collaboration between home, school and the municipalities. No deductible shall be required. MDG: Gradually introduce sustainable and healthy school meals in Norwegian primary schools. KrF: Says no to free school meals. KrF wants to spend the big money on more teachers in the school, not free school meals. The best means of leveling social differences does not lie in free school meals for everyone, but in counteracting child poverty through education. Left: Says no to free school meals. Believes that the schools are not built for public school meals, that public school meals are the wrong tool for equalizing social inequalities and that most children in primary school bring their own packed lunches. Right: Says no to school meals as a government scheme for everyone. The party believes that one should raise the competence of teachers, better special education and more qualified teachers before prioritizing school meals as an equalization measure. Høyre writes that they are concerned that children have a healthy and good diet, and are therefore positive about local initiatives, adapted to local needs – this should not be a government scheme that is the same for everyone. The Progress Party: Says no to school meals as a government scheme for everyone. The Progress Party does not want central regulations on the homework help scheme, but believes that questions about homework and homework help must be up to the individual school. The same applies to school meals. But the FRP has in some cases locally, for example in Stavanger, advocated free school meals as a trial scheme. The Industrial and Business Party: does not say anything about school meals in the party programme. But some of the party’s local teams, e.g. in Bergen and at Klepp, are positive about free school meals for school pupils. SOURCES: the parties’ respective party programmes. Where school meals are not explicitly mentioned in party programmes, articles from the parties’ own websites. At Skjelnan School, the parents are in no doubt about the importance food has had for their children. – Got brand new kids Stig Pettersen is the father of Mia Aurora and Mathilde in 2nd and 3rd grade respectively. Father Stig and daughters Mia and Mathilde are delighted with home-cooked food at SFO every day. After they finish 4th grade, they can come to the kitchen for a snack, but I think it’s a shame that not all of the school’s students get the offer every day. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen – After they received school meals, the children have become much less picky and very interested in helping out in the kitchen at home. I have suddenly experienced that the seven-year-old wants to cook from scratch all by himself, says Pettersen. He believes it is undoubtedly related to the fact that they are actively allowed to participate in cooking at school. This is how dad Stig Pettersen found his daughter Mia Aurora at home in the kitchen: she made homemade pancakes all by herself. Pettersen believes the joy of eating is due to the school introducing school meals. Photo: Private – There will be more joy and safety in the school yard. There are so many positive aspects to this that I could stand all day and talk about it. Pettersen is happy that he less often has to fight to get the children to taste new food at home. At school, they get both fish and vegetables, and observe other children who dare to try. – We don’t have to fight this impossible battle at home ourselves, because they have already experienced that healthy food tastes good, says Pettersen. Were you hungry now? Below is the exclusive recipe for school chef Erik’s homemade fish sticks and yoghurt aioli. The bigger the pupils get, the more often the food package is missed. Lindstrøm firmly believes that you argue less with those you regularly share a good meal with. And also that life is too short to eat bad food. Chef Erik Lindstrøm is passionate about the importance of nutritious food for well-being and learning at school. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen He believes the connection between nutritious food and learning is strong. – You don’t learn enough about food in teacher training, the connection between blood sugar level, learning, conflict level and calmness in the class. Although it is the teachers who notice the most how students are affected without food in their stomachs. With a constant blood sugar level, it will be much more pleasant for everyone, says the school cook. In Europe, only Norway, Albania and Denmark lack school meals in primary schools. One of chef Erik’s many specialities: fish cake taco pudding. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen Lindstrøm hopes Norway will soon introduce a school meal system in primary schools. Especially since he himself has observed that many children eat little or nothing before lunch, some not throughout a whole school day. – I would estimate that 30 per cent of the students here do not bring their own packed lunches, he says. The observations may agree with the average for Norwegian school students: The research campaign in 2018 investigated the school meal habits of more than 10,000 students in primary and upper secondary schools. The school cook, Erik, finds ingredients to make the day’s speciality: taco pudding made of, among other things, fishcakes. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen An average of 85 per cent of the pupils brought packed lunches to school, but this varied with school level. At primary school, almost everyone brought a packed lunch, while the proportion dropped to 3 out of 4 in secondary school and 2 out of 3 in upper secondary school. Chef Erik gets a spontaneous visit from 6th graders who are happy to help out with the day’s cooking, and a bite to eat on the way. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen The school cook is not impressed by either political parties’ year-long promises about school food, or the public’s investment in school food. Although Skjelnan school will continue its school kitchen, Lindstrøm will start from the autumn as a cook on a fishing trawler. Then the career as a school cook is history. Erik Lindstrøm hopes more chef colleagues in the restaurant industry see that the job as a school cook has far more family-friendly working hours and is a very rewarding job. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen There seems to be no doubt that he is missed by the students. – Erik is the best chef in the world. He is very kind and kind-hearted. After he leaves, we are afraid we will go from five-star to one-star food, says 6th grader Elias Naderi (10). Should all Norwegian school children get free school meals? Yes No Yes, but only for primary school Yes, but only for upper secondary school Show result
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School chef believes that school food works to reduce conflict – news Troms and Finnmark
