As a school, you decide how to organise the meals you provide at your school. So you can choose the variant that suits you best. There are various possibilities, for example:

• Organising breakfast or lunch with the help of parents/caregivers or volunteers at school.
• Preparing food yourself together with the pupils (linked to lessons on nutrition).
• A collaboration with nearby businesses/supermarkets.
• Making fruit available.
• Purchasing food via a company that arranges the meals.
• Offering products with a long shelf-life in a cupboard or refrigerator at school, from which parents/caregivers/pupils can (anonymously) take food.

Several options that minimise the loss of time available for education are open to you, e.g.:

Several options that minimise the loss of time available for education are open to you, e.g.:

• Use part of the budget provided to purchase a freezer, then you only need to order food once a week.
• Ask volunteers to make sandwiches. You can pay them an allowance from the budget provided.
• Have local supermarkets or suppliers (in Dutch) deliver bread and spreads, sliced meat, cheese and other fillings for sandwiches, fruit and drinks.
• Install a fruit bar in the entrance hall where children can quickly help themselves to fruit when they arrive.

What if you do not have a suitable space or enough capacity for preparing sandwiches at school? If this is the case, you could ask a supplier to deliver premade sandwiches to the school. You can also have breakfast or lunch provided by a community centre or other neighbourhood-based volunteer initiatives. They can distribute the food or place it in a designated room.

“The Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum) provides information to help schools; for details go to the (Dutch) website: Voedingscentrum.
The information on this website includes:

• Guidelines for a healthy school meal
• A product list and tips for making healthy bread rolls
• Worthwhile tips on sustainability and food safety.
• A summary of all the benefits of a healthy school meal.

The Nutrition Centre lists several ideas for brief teaching activities (in Dutch) focusing on school meals, which can be organised during meal breaks. Lunch menu suggestions (also only available in Dutch) for putting together a varied lunch are also available.

Embed a healthy lifestyle at your school with the healthy school programme offered by ‘Gezonde School’, see this website (in Dutch).

Would you like to make arrangements with suppliers to have bread, spreads, sliced meat, cheese and other fillings for sandwiches, fruit and drinks delivered to your school? To inspire you, here is a list of suppliers (in Dutch) that have indicated their interest in this to the School Meals Programme (Programma Schoolmaaltijden). You can also make arrangements with suppliers not listed here.

Are you a supplier and would you also like to be included in the inspiration list? Please send an email to [email protected].

• The Netherlands Red Cross, the Youth Education Fund (Jeugdeducatiefonds) and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science have no influence over the selection of suppliers. Schools decide whether to work with suppliers and are responsible for choosing their supplier(s).
• The suppliers on the list have been included because they have registered with the School Meals Programme (Programma Schoolmaaltijden). The School Meals Programme (Programma Schoolmaaltijden) has verified that the suppliers are registered with the Chamber of Commerce, but has not assessed or verified the quality of the suppliers or the food and/or drinks offered by them. So check carefully to make sure that the offer meets the needs of your school.
• Schools are individually responsible for the arrangements they make with suppliers. The School Meals Programme (Programma Schoolmaaltijden) has no involvement in arrangements between schools and suppliers and is not liable in the event of disputes or misunderstandings between schools and suppliers.”