A kitchen at the heart of a school – an investigation into school meals in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

Free school meals provide support to vulnerable families in the Republic of Ireland. Funding is allocated as part of an anti-poverty strategy. An investigation was carried out to discover if the school meal could be used to provide nutritious scratch-cooked food as well as providing opportunities for increased socialisation and pedagogy. Food affects students in a myriad of ways and schools are in a unique position to guide what and how young people eat. This article draws on data from an ethnographic study in an inner city Dublin school. The school recently had a scratch-cooking canteen embedded within it. Using a case study methodology, this paper investigates whether this type of canteen can lead to the school becoming a more food literate entity by building a scaffolding that can facilitate a greater knowledge of food throughout the school, increased interest in tasting new foods and spaces for socialisation over a meal.

Keywords:

• school meals
• school canteens
• children’s food provision
• Irish school food
• food literacy
• scratch-cooking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michelle Darmody

Michelle Darmody is a doctoral researcher in TU Dublin and food journalist for The Irish Examiner. An interest in food led Michelle to establish a busy bakery and café in 2006, both of which were unique for their time in Dublin, making everything from scratch on site and procuring ingredients from small local producers. Michelle taught baking and cooking classes in local schools. This educational initiative was expanded with the aid of the Taste Council of Ireland. Schools nationwide were visited and workshops were developed, where cheesemakers, bakers and food growers were cajoled into teaching children about food. However, even with the backing of both Slow Food and Eurotoques, the methods employed were not sustainable. A need for a more far reaching and systemic approach to food education within schools in Ireland was noted, and this need forms the core of her doctoral study.