‘De Happy Empanada’ and ‘Ikwilum’ winners of the healthy canteen snack

Healthy and tasty canteen snack

“Create your ideal healthy canteen snack.” More than 75 groups of pupils and students from secondary and vocational education in Flevoland and North Brabant took on this challenge. The snack had to meet the 5 Gs: Enjoyment, Affordable, Healthy, Convenient and Green. In other words, the snack had to be tasty, affordable, comply with the Wheel of Five, be easy to prepare in a canteen setting and be sustainable. In addition, students were asked to create a campaign to promote the snack among their fellow students. The jury assessed all submitted ideas according to these criteria.

Best entries

Of all the entries, the three best schools from each province were invited to the final.

Flevoland

The three best ideas in Flevoland were the snack ‘Wrap filled with organic crispy chicken’ from Aeres Almere Poort, ‘Veggie Happy Empanada’ from PrO Almere and ‘Wrapple’ from Porteum. They brought their products to Aeres University of Applied Sciences Almere, where, during an interactive final under the guidance of several experts, they further improved their snacks. The jury chose ‘De Happy Empanada’ because it is a plant-based, distinctive and tasty snack that can be prepared well in a canteen setting and meets guidelines for healthier food.

North Brabant

The three selected snacks in North Brabant were ‘Ikwilum’ from Scholengemeenschap De Overlaat, ‘Apple Chips’ from 2 Cobbencollege and ‘Healthy Brown Bread Roll’ from Campus013. They brought their products to BrabantNEXT of the province of North Brabant in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Here, they also further improved their snacks. Ultimately, the jury chose ‘Ikwilum’ from Scholengemeenschap De Overlaat because it is a distinctive, affordable and tasty snack that can be prepared well in a canteen setting and meets guidelines for healthier food.

Winners ‘Ikwilum’ from Scholengemeenschap De Overlaat.

A cheque for the canteen snack

The winners received a cheque with which they will prepare their winning canteen snack together with a chef for the entire school. In Flevoland, the cheque was presented by Flevoland Provincial Executive Gebke van Gaal, and in North Brabant by Renske Visscher of IVN.

Objective of the School Canteen Challenge

The School Canteen Challenge was made possible by Jong Leren Eten in cooperation with the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. During Dutch Food Week 2022, the challenge was launched in the provinces of Flevoland and North Brabant with the aim of creating an affordable, healthy, appealing and sustainable range of products in school canteens.

The School Canteen Challenge offers an accessible way to involve pupils and students more actively in a healthy, sustainable and affordable canteen range at school. The aim is for them to learn to make more conscious food choices. The School Canteen Challenge can be flexibly incorporated into education and is suitable for different levels of secondary and vocational education. The assignment can be expanded in various ways, for example by conducting preliminary research into the current canteen situation or by linking theory to health, sustainability, nutritional values and practical aspects of preparation techniques or food safety.

The School Canteen Challenge is connected to the ‘Healthy School Canteen’ programme and the Guidelines for the Food Environment for Schools issued by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. In this way, the School Canteen Challenge contributes to the objectives of Healthy School.

Cover photo: Winners ‘Veggie Happy Empanada’ from PrO Almere.