The proposal, made on behalf of all schools and families in the municipality, seeks to create a sustainable and long-lasting food system that prioritizes children and promotes the local primary sector. The core of this new model lies in proximity, allowing cooking to take place within the schools themselves or, if the investment is too high, establishing a centralized kitchen for all schools in Hernani.
The approval of the Basque Government's Department of Education is essential for implementing this proposal, as it requires the Hernani City Council to partially assume management competence for the canteen service. However, the collective stated that despite requesting a meeting with the counselor almost a year ago, they have not received a response from the department.
“"We do not know if the proposal from Hernani's schools is included in this project; we believe not, as no official from the Department of Education has contacted the municipality's schools in the last year to develop a new canteen model."
They highlighted that similar innovative models have already been piloted and implemented in other municipalities across Euskal Herria. They also noted that the Basque Government Council approved on April 29 the addition of 30 new kitchens to Euskadi's school network, bringing the total to nearly 200 by the next academic year, along with the creation of 10 zonal kitchens.
More than 2,500 students are enrolled in Hernani's schools, with approximately 1,600 using the canteen service and around 500 receiving canteen scholarships. The educational community has urged the Basque Parliament to consider their proposal and called on the Basque Government's Department of Education to convene a meeting to collaboratively develop this new model.
