“The potential for regional farmers in school canteens is now enormous, we will need more organic, poultry and Luxembourg vegetables. We have planned a bill to further subsidize greenhouse horticultural production. For beef and milk, we should be good,” lists Martine Hansen.
This Monday, the Minister of Agriculture and her colleague from National Education, Claude Meisch, took stock of initiatives for healthy and sustainable food in canteens. The school and university catering market is consistent. “Every year, three million customers visit one of the 117 points of sale managed by Restopolis,” explains Claude Meisch.
In order to guarantee the best products on plates and allow farmers to get a piece of the pie, the Supply4Future online procurement platform, where calls for tenders are published, has been extended to all school restaurants since September 1. In awarding the market, organic and regional criteria put price second. The test phase, which lasted from September 2023 to September 2024, has already been “very conclusive”, note the ministers. Thus, the thirteen restaurants which tested the platform showed a rate of 31% local organic products, compared to 15% for other restaurants and 72% local products, compared to 65%.
Ministries are also tackling waste. Thus, since January, every day after the end of classes, Restopolis has distributed free unsold items from the lunch break, whether sandwiches, pastries or heated meals. Each student and staff member is entitled to a free product and dish. The dishes are carefully packaged in an ecological and biodegradable tray. To date, 60,000 meals/products have been distributed. Added to this is an online reservation system and an expansion of the gluten-free offering.
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