Eighty-four and eighty-five euros per month, or 4.20 and 4.26 euros per meal: this is the average expense incurred by an Italian family for the canteen of a child enrolled in primary or nursery school respectively. This is the photograph taken by Cittadinanzattiva’s seventh survey on the cost of school canteens in Italy. The most expensive region on average is Basilicata (109 euros per month), followed by Emilia Romagna (107 euros) and Liguria (103 euros). The cheapest region, however, is Sardinia (61 euros in childhood and 65 for primary school), slightly preceded by Umbria (67 euros). The increase in the cost of school canteens compared to the previous survey – referring to 2022/23 – was over 3%. The variations, however, are distributed differently at the regional level. In fact, only in two regions does the cost of meals remain unchanged compared to the previous year (Abruzzo and Valle d’Aosta) and only in four (Basilicata, Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria) does it decrease. In the others, however, very significant increases have been recorded, as in the case of Calabria (+26%), followed by Lombardy (+7.5%), Molise (+7.2%), Puglia (+6.9% ), Liguria (+6.83%) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (+5.9%).
In the ranking of the cheapest cities for school canteen service, Barletta is in first place, followed by Cagliari, Ragusa and Enna. On the podium of the most expensive cities, however, Turin reconfirms its record of recent years, followed by Modena, Trapani and Livorno. “For years we have been asking that school catering become an essential public service, and among the recommendations also included in the “National Action Plan for the implementation of the childhood guarantee” is that of gradually making school meals free for everyone, starting from children and by girls living in families in absolute poverty. A condition that unfortunately affects more and more minors: 4.9% of children under 16 are food deprived and 2.5% cannot afford a protein meal a day”, declares Adriana Bizzarri, national coordinator of the Cittadinanzattiva School .
“For years we have been asking that school catering become an essential public service, and among the recommendations also included in the “National Action Plan for the implementation of the childhood guarantee” is that of gradually making school meals free for everyone, starting from children and by girls living in families in absolute poverty. A condition that unfortunately affects more and more minors: 4.9% of children under 16 are food deprived and 2.5% cannot afford a protein meal a day”, declares Adriana Bizzarri, national coordinator of the Cittadinanzattiva School .
“In the meantime, we believe it is a priority for the Parliamentary Commission for Children and Adolescents, together with all interested stakeholders including users, to launch a fact-finding investigation to identify an intervention plan on aspects such as: quality and cost of foodstuffs, supply chain of supply, compliance with menus, role of the canteen commissions, concessionary bands in tariffs, procurement system, working conditions of the staff, compliance with CAM, monitoring of public programs for organic canteens and fruit and vegetables at school, health education projects correct nutrition”.
Canteens in the South, with the PNRR less funds than expected. According to the National Registry, a third of school buildings, i.e. 13,533 out of 40,160, are equipped with a canteen. The distribution, however, is not homogeneous, as in the Southern Regions just over one building in five has a school canteen (in the Center it is 41% and in the North 43%) and the share drops to 15.6% in Campania and 13.7% in Sicily. The region with a greater number of schools equipped with a canteen is Valle d’Aosta (72%), followed by Piedmont, Tuscany and Liguria where it is present in 6 out of 10 buildings. In Puglia, Abruzzo and Lazio they are present in one building on four.
The PNRR does not meet the needs of schools in the South, at least not to the extent hoped for. Out of 1052 interventions planned and 600 million in funds allocated, the South receives – according to the June 2023 rankings, the latest available – half of the resources, against the 58% envisaged in the original plan.
Furthermore, of the total interventions planned at national level, just over half (541 out of 1052) involve the construction of new canteens; 21% involve demolition, reconstruction and expansion interventions and 28% involve redevelopment, reconversion and safety measures for pre-existing spaces and canteens.
Organic canteens: after the strong impulse of 2018 and 2019, funds halved Since 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture has established a fund intended to reduce the costs borne by the beneficiaries of the organic school canteen service and to carry out information and promotion initiatives in schools and to accompany the school lunch service.
From the 4 million disbursed to the Regions/Autonomous Provinces in 2017, it went to 10 million in 2018 and 2019, before decreasing in 2020/2023 to 5 million for each year. Faced with the decline in resources, the number of meals provided increased – from 30,617,849 in 2022 to 37,973,727 in 2023: this means that the percentage of contribution per meal has significantly decreased, going from €0.16 in 2022 to €0.13 in 2023, effectively making the organic meal no longer sustainable, especially in some situations.
