More than 300 children aged 0 to 3 years, from five nurseries in Golegã, Torres Novas and Vila Nova da Barquinha, are participating in “Little Chefs, Zero Waste”, a project that aims to identify where, how and why food waste occurs in nurseries and test solutions tailored to the realities of each institution, as stated in a press release.
According to the same source, the initiative is promoted by the Mendes Gonçalves Foundation, through the Nutrir program, in collaboration with the Kitanda Project, and will last approximately six months.
The project began with an initial phase of observation and diagnosis. Before proposing changes, the team is monitoring kitchen routines and mealtimes, listening to the professionals and analyzing the path of the food from its preparation to what ends up on the plate.
“The first step to change is to understand. We do not want to bring pre-defined solutions to nurseries, but to understand what happens day to day, to listen to those who prepare and supervise the meals, and to involve the children themselves as well. Only in this way can we develop responses that make sense for each reality and that have the capacity to endure and positively influence families,” says Vanessa Esteves, director of the Nutrir program at the Mendes Gonçalves Foundation.
From this diagnosis, solutions will be developed and tested in conjunction with the kitchen, educational and support teams, also involving the children and families. Training moments, experimentation and participatory activities are planned, with the evolution of food waste subsequently monitored throughout the intervention. In addition to reducing the amount of food that is not consumed, the project aims to work on the relationship between children and adults with food from early childhood. The mealtime is seen as an opportunity to stimulate the discovery of foods, promote greater participation by the children, and contribute to healthier and more sustainable food environments.
“Reducing waste does not begin only in the kitchen. It also begins in the way we choose, produce, buy and present the foods, in how we involve the children and in how we transform the mealtime into a discovery and learning experience. If we can build these habits from early childhood, we are also contributing to a more conscious relationship with food in the future,” adds Vanessa Esteves.
Over the six months, the practices implemented will be monitored to assess the results and identify learnings with potential to be applied to other nurseries and territories, and to serve as the basis for a set of recommendations and supporting materials that the Mendes Gonçalves Foundation will develop and promote after the project.
The five participating educational establishments form part of the Early Childhood Network, driven by the Mendes Gonçalves Foundation, which brings together nurseries, kindergartens, school clusters, municipalities and professionals, including childminders, to promote the sharing of experiences, identify problems and contribute to the improvement of local public policies aimed at childhood.
Integrated into the Nutrir program, “Little Chefs, Zero Waste” reinforces the Mendes Gonçalves Foundation’s commitment to food literacy from early childhood and to the development of solutions built with communities, seeking to translate knowledge and field experimentation into models with potential for advocacy and replication.
