Role of public catering and use of organic food in educational contexts: Creating centres for sustainable food systems. Finnish national report of innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth (iPOPY) 2007-2010 research project.

Abstract

Public catering has long traditions in Finland both on the sectors of working life and education. The historical background through lengthy and extensive negotiations since the beginning of 20th century about the role of public catering in education has cemented the position of free and regulated school meals. However, this vision of democratic nutrition of the 20th century is contested by a renewed vision of ecological meals of the 21st century. As a notion, catering for sustainability catches the orientation for change. Today, the orientation for sustainable development within schools and the consecutive „greening of public catering‟ seems to proceed in Finnish schools. The cross-curricular theme of sustainable development breeds focus on local and organic food in education and catering. Environmental or sustainability certification of a school may introduce organic food into school catering. The caterers have interest in organic food too. They often prefer local and organic, even local organic food and may use a certification scheme to increase the visibility of their orientation. However, more often than not, organic food is not used as a visible staple in Finnish school catering. This research aimed at understanding the current situation in Finnish school catering and education for sustainable development (ESD) in ways enabling suggestions for development and increased use of organic food in school catering. This qualitative inquiry into the social dynamics of public catering and ESD was enabled by the co-operative educational institutes across educational levels and their rectors, teachers, caterers and young people, whose in-depth interviews and focus groups produced data about organic food in schools within the framing of sustainable development. According to this research, the caterers did exert social force for sustainability by expressing their professional identity for sustainability. This identity could convey both positive and negative features for caterers, depending on whether they received support from their management, organizational strategies or suppliers. The co-operation with their supply chains as well as switching into organic supply chains offered options for upgrading their catering activities. In this research, the use of organic milk as a staple was identified to have potential for catering for sustainability. A mediated dialogue was conducted with caterers about the quality of organic milk and its suitability to school catering. The barriers of the use of organic milk were not only economic, and an intermediate mediating strategy for sustainability was suggested for caterers in terms of the use of organic food. Furthermore, caterers were understood not to be only pleased about the organic message but it was seen to evoke critical response. This response was analysed and new ways of communication about organic food were suggested. Finnish ESD (education for sustainable development) in basic and general upper secondary education was reviewed and it was found to present ambitious aims through both disciplinary and cross-curricular themes. An entity within ESD, regarding food system and including organic food in particular, could be identified as an evolving topic of food education for sustainability (FES). There were committed teachers who made big efforts to promote it and who actually implemented the whole school approach for this aim. The young people also considered organic food as an embodiment of more sustainable food system, which, however, also raised extensive ambiguity in need of more detailed addressing. Furthermore, there were young people who expressed commitment mainly on ethical, animal welfare and health grounds for organic food. Young people also viewed organic quality as an ambiguous one and they demonstrated conditional commitment. A negative commitment by young people meant that they rather chose conventional food. Finally, suggestions for stakeholders in educational contexts included focus on FES and introduction of organic food through concerted efforts into the school catering for sustainability