Roles of the School Canteen

The school canteen plays an important role in providing

healthy, safe, and nutritious food for the school community. It also

acts as a channel to improve good behavior on food and nutrition

among school children. The establishment of sustainable healthy

canteen will promote the school children’s nutritional status

achievement as well as their academic performance. Through this

online training, the participants are expected to understand the role

of the school canteen, understand the indicators of Healthy Canteen

and able to establish Healthy Canteen in their schools.

Also, school canteens and other school food services are

important educational resources. They have an important role in the

provision of food to students and the school community as well as

being an integral part of the school environment. The school canteen

should reflect the educational goals of the school and support and

complement student learning. When consumed daily, the food

provided through the school canteen may comprise a third of a

student’s total daily intake and have a significant influence on their

health and nutrition. (Victoria, 2020)

According to DO 8, S. 2007 or the revised guidelines on the

operations and management of the school canteen in primary and

secondary schools, these are the aims that the canteen should be

done: the school canteen shall help eliminate malnutrition among

pupils/students. Next, the school canteen shall serve as a venue for

the development of desirable eating habits of pupils/students.

Followed by the school canteen shall serve as a laboratory for Home

Economics, retail trade and in the incidental teaching of health and

nutrition. It shall provide hands-on training for students on planning,

purchasing, handling and storage, preparation, serving and sale of

safe and nutritious meals. Fourth, the school canteen guidelines shall

serve as a mechanism to support the Department’s response to the

mandate of Article 2 of Republic Act No. 6938 to create an atmosphere

that is conducive to the growth and development of cooperatives.

Lastly, service should be the main consideration for operating a

school canteen. Profit shall only be secondary since the clientele are

pupils/students who are dependent only on their meager allowance

from their parents.

The school canteen has a crucial role in the daily lives of the

administrators, teachers and especially students as it serves food that

gives energy for the whole day. These roles must be strictly fulfilled by

the canteen operators for the whole school year. It is not only for the

sake of the students but also for the sake of all stakeholders.