Some 1,249 school canteens
served meals prepared using organic produce in 2014, with a rise
of 43% in four years, the national federation of agricultural
cooperatives and agri-food Fedagri-Confcooperative said
Thursday.
The northern regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna
topped the chart respectively with 224, 192 and 172 canteens
serving organic products.
In total 1.2 million school meals were served each day that
contained at least some organic foods.
In 290 canteens at least 70% of the raw materials used in
food preparation were organically grown.
"The trend is certainly positive, but much more can be done to
increase the use of organic produce in school canteens and
collective catering generally," said the Agri-food cooperatives
alliance's organic sector coordinator Andrea Bertoldi.
"If you consider that over 10 million Italians regularly
lunch out each day it is clear how important it is also to
provide healthy and quality food outside the home," he added.
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