Yellow Train school, situated at Neelambur, offers its students both breakfast and lunch. The meals are compulsory for students and staff. Santhya Vikram, the founder, has introduced a millet-based diet and she says her school is “Committed to not just providing a meal but making the connect from the farm to the table.” They grow most of their produce. They faced some resistance in the beginning but managed to overcome it with patience and perseverance.
After consulting with nutritional experts, they offer millet-based payasam, stuffed chappathis, dosa, one-bowl meal like a sambhar saadham, etc.
After a morning run children get a small cup of kanji and only on finishing that do they get the rest of the breakfast. This way the kids are introduced to the advantages of millet cultivation, and are encouraged to eat with more awareness.
Dr. Menaka Vinay, a parent, welcomes this nutritious move.
She says, “A child cut a watermelon instead of a cake in school on her birthday, and the kids happily relished it!” Teacher-co-ordinator Karuna feels the children are more alert and agile after the millet diet was introduced.
So impressed is she that she has introduced the same diet at home too.
At Chandrakanthi Public School, kids maintain a kitchen garden. They harvest the vegetables and cook them. Aditya. G, a grade six student speaks of the delicious carrot halwa and tomato soup in his school made out of carrots and tomatoes they picked from the school garden. The principal, Mrs. Karunambikeshwari actively encourages this activity at school.
Sitara Vikram who heads CS Academy says they run both a day facility as well as a boarding school. At the boarding there is an egg for breakfast every morning and she says, “I like to alternate between sundal, fruit, cutlets and puffs as an evening snack.” Of course the kids do fuss she admits. But she is happy to report that, “Over the years they have learnt to be less fussy about what is placed before them and have acquired a taste for veggies.” The school also holds a food festival for the boarders once a month, where they are treated to kebabs, katti rolls, biryani and desserts. There is a special menu on festivals. Kavitha Sukumar whose daughter studies at CSA says that she is happy with the hot wholesome diet that the school provides. While she is not opposed to a bit of change in the menu from time to time, she understands “the need to look at it practically, in a manner that is doable”. For student Ananya Krishnakumar, she just wants to be served cake! But she grudgingly agrees that she has got used to eating sorakkai and “quite likes” the bisi bele bhaath too.
At GD Matriculation School, breakfast is being served for the last 25 years. The Correspondent, Chandra Gopal, prefers to stick with the time-tested menu that is easy for the cooks to execute and meets with her quality standards. She says that “Children grumble on idli days. But I eat there myself on those days to set an example and also because the idlis are well made and a favourite of mine”. Sometimes sprouts are sneaked into the sambhar. But, a couple of times a week, the children get pav bhaji and parota.
Toast, idlis, uppuma and rava dosai constitute the breakfast menu at Indian Public School. It changes day to day. Lunch is usually rotis, rice, dal and vegetables. Fun foods are on Fridays when the children are served noodles, pasta and ice cream. “They look forward to these days with great enthusiasm,” says a parent Nidhi Gupta, who is grateful to the school for sending her updates on her son’s if he is not eating properly or is fussing about food.
Dr. Antony and Dr. Shilpa are happy about the hot meal Jonathan gets at school. What makes it extra special is that Jonathan has now taken to eating vegetables! Since the family usually has non-vegetarian meals at dinner, the fact that he eats his veggies at lunch is gratifying to Dr.Shilpa.
IPS doesn’t just stop at healthy food. It also teaches children not to waste. Parent Shikha Bagaria says kids can choose what they want to eat but must eat it all. An adult sits by the dustbin to see that no food is surreptitiously tipped in.
Founder of Vidhya Niketan, Rajini Krishnamurthy, believes offering too many choices will lead to a decline in its quality. But the school ensures the children get something hot and tasty at 9.30 a.m. when they have a 20-minute break. On the days that they serve chappathis they go through about 30 kgs of wheat! They also offer biryani, sambar-saadham, idlis and other tiffin. The children are hungry at this hour and they do justice to this meal.
Parents and schools are almost unanimous in their opposition to installing vending machines for soft drinks or nutritionally deficient snacks. They also acknowledge that serving food is a huge responsibility. The kitchens function on the school campus itself. That’s the only way they can maintain hygienic cooking and serving practices. It also ensures that their wards learn the importance of a healthy lifestyle and a nutritious diet.
Kitchen gardens in schools are getting popular
Many schools run cookery clubs. The kids learn about food and surprise their family with their new-found culinary skills.
There is an increased awareness on the merits of healthier alternatives to packaged food.
Many schools also keep an eye on the children’s snack-box and discourage parents from packing it with highly processed store-bought foods.
