The highest court of appeal at Italy has ruled against parents who tend to stow packed lunch boxes into their kids’ backpacks every morning. The Court said schools should have the autonomy to decide if children are allowed to eat packed lunches on school grounds. It was declared that the parents do not reserve the right to provide meals for their children in Italian schools. The right to eat packed lunch from home will now be subject to approval from the school authorities.
A lower court previously ruled in favour of a group of Turin parents who wanted to opt-out of school meals.
The Motive Behind The Ordinance
While it may seem like a bullish decision to deny the young children access to homemade meals, the court ruling states that bringing food from home acts against the fundamentals of equality and breeds specific discriminatory actions on school premises. The court emphasized that a school is an institution where parents must work alongside the school authorities to respect individual differences.
The judges said schools were places where individual differences should be taken into account “alongside the interests of the school community”.
It could lead to discrimination based on wealth if some of the richer pupils brought in packed lunches filled with more expensive foods, the court stated.
Parents Rage
The decision sparked a storm of protests. The possibly unfair ruling has triggered rage among several parents and infuriated them to the extent of calling this as an “act of violence.” According to the parents, school meals are unaffordable to many. Besides putting a big dent in the pockets, parents claim that the canteen meals tend to be unhealthy and compromise of hygiene and quality. A mother of two from Turin protests that she has spent over two thousand euros (€2000) on school lunches, which is way more than her monthly income. Not only that, her children prefer to skip lunch, at times, in the wake of substandard quality and hygiene standards, she says. Another parent claims that the schools have received negative feedback over unclean cutlery and hairs found in meals. Few also raised concerns regarding schools being unable to meet specific dietary or allergen requirements of some children. While the school authorities have expressed their willingness to conform to the highest standards of safety and quality, it does not address the additional monetary burden imposed on parents.
Raids on school canteens last year suggested that parents have a point, when police discovered insects, mouse faeces and mould in food being served, and concluded that a third of school dinner providers were violating health rules.
Other European countries, such as Finland, provide free school lunches to all pupils. In France, school lunches are not free but are heavily subsidised. All infant pupils in England’s schools are entitled to a free hot meal at lunchtime, but take-up is not compulsory.
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