Croquettes, lentils and other school canteen dramas

BarcelonaIn school canteens, we have run out of croquettes. We no longer have banana yogurts and the macaroni is whole wheat. The day there is vegetables as a first course and lentils as a second, the students (and actually all of us) suffer a brutal shock because for us, culturally, they are two first courses and we miss a second course. The changes in the canteen menus have added a bit more drama, if that were possible, to school meals, which have always been in the spotlight. I have attended courses on communication in schools and all attendees agree: one of the most common complaints is about food. Whether we are from public or private schools, from Girona or Penedès, the canteen issue is always a struggle and it is very difficult to get it right. Once a week, which almost always tends to coincide with the fateful legume day, I have to work in the dining hall at my school. And after many hours in the dining hall, I've come to the conclusion that, even if Ferran Adrià personally came to spherify olives, there would be complaints.

Observing the dynamics of the dining hall is a first-rate sociological exercise because the class's attitudes change completely, different groups form, and you see the students' behavior beyond the academic part. How they eat, how messily they leave it, how they treat the monitors and the kitchen staff, and even what relationship they have with food. This half hour a week allows me to discover many things about my 1st year of ESO class and also food camouflage techniques that I was unaware of because as a child I used to eat lunch at home. The methods for making food disappear would be envied by Houdini himself. Crumpled napkins, crushed vegetables on the edge of the plate, and fish quartered into infinite pieces to make me believe it has been moderately tasted. Plate changes are a constant, it's like the shell game on La Rambla: when you're not looking, the omelette has already flown to another plate. The roles in the dining room are very defined and everyone knows who to foist what they don't want onto. Fussy eaters

I think it is very important that all students, especially adolescents, have a good relationship with food and that mealtime is relaxed. Sometimes I notice comments like "will you eat all of this?" or "will you have seconds today too?" that worry me much more than the splash of broccoli worthy of Pollock that splatters all over the plate. I believe that the importance lies not in finishing everything but in eating a varied diet and enjoying the conversation, the laughter, the after-dinner chats, or singing Happy Birthday loudly banging cutlery on the table. All of this builds community, builds school, and the dining room is just another part of the entire educational machinery.

I also have to tell you that in these years I have noticed that the students are increasingly picky and often discover dishes for the first time. We have smoothed the way so much with the children's menu of macaroni and breaded meat that I have encountered little diners who have never eaten cod or who ask me hundreds of times what vichyssoise is. You can imagine that afterwards I have to explain what a leek is and no, it's not what they think, I tell them it's like an onion. It is urgent to include a subject of gastronomic culture, not only to learn a few basic recipes, which would be very good, but also to have minimal knowledge of the product and the season and to know that kilometer zero does not mean going to buy at the supermarket next to home. As you can see, the dining room is more than a service, it is an essential part of the craft of educating and must be taken great care of to guarantee the well-being of all students who have lunch at school every day.