Testing of New Buffet-Style Lunch Recipes in Schools Is in Full Swing
Daugavpils University, in close cooperation with nutrition specialist Dzintra Kokta and the four pilot schools of the “SchoolFood WasteSolutions” project, is actively continuing the development and testing of new buffet-style lunch recipes. School cooks, together with the project team, are working on dishes that are suitable for the buffet format, nutritionally balanced, sustainable, and at the same time attractive to students.
The development and refinement of the new recipes takes place over a six-week period, and the results will be compiled into a practice-based 6-week recipe handbook designed for school catering in a buffet style.
An important part of the process is student involvement. Students have the opportunity to taste and evaluate the prepared dishes by voting for their favorites using special tokens. This approach makes it possible to create a dialogue with children and young people already at the early stages of recipe development, taking into account their preferences and taste experiences while maintaining balanced nutritional value. Students’ opinions are particularly important in the project.
It must be acknowledged that not all flavors are familiar—testing also includes new products and unusual combinations that take time to get used to. However, this very process helps children discover food diversity, develop openness to new flavors, and form healthy eating habits.
This is already the fourth round of recipe testing, and at each stage the team approaches the process with great care. During testing, conclusions are regularly drawn and necessary adjustments are made, which is an essential part of developing a high-quality, practice-based recipe handbook.
Similar activities are also taking place in Estonia, in the Tartu region, where both Latgale recipes and dishes adapted from Sweden are being tested. Meanwhile, this year Latgale is also set to test recipes from Estonian partners, confirming that cross-border cooperation in practice is a valuable resource for experience exchange and joint learning.
Step by step, lunches are being created that are healthy, sustainable, and child-friendly.
We invite everyone interested to take a look at the activities of the “SchoolFood WasteSolutions” project and follow the results!
#SchoolFoodWasteSolutions #EUfunded #CohesionPolicy #Interreg #CentralBaltic #CentralBalticProgramme
Video author: www.preili.lv
