The Ecocomedores program continues to expand its reach this academic year with the incorporation of 70 centers into the initiative, four of them in Lanzarote.
This involves the Haría Residence, the CEIP Alcalde Rafael Cedrés of Tías, the CEIP Playa Blanca, and the Concepción Rodríguez Artiles, in the island's capital, which join the two institutes that were already in the program: the CEIP Capellanía del Yágabo in Arrecife and the CEIP Costa Teguise of the city of the same name.
Thus, the archipelago now has a total of 190 dining halls, 186 of them in educational centers, serving 36,000 diners who enjoy healthy food based on recipes made with fruits and vegetables from local organic production.
After twelve years in operation, this initiative of the Departments of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty and Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports, led by the Canary Islands Institute of Agri-Food Quality (ICCA), reaches a new milestone in participation this year thanks to the adhesion of all public centers with directly managed dining halls and the unitary schools in rural areas.
In this regard, Councilor Narvay Quintero highlighted that "the continuous desire for improvement of all groups participating in the program allows more educational centers to join each year, and more eco-farmers to join the network that makes up Ecocomedores."
Inspiration for all of Spain
Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture added, "it is an important tool for promoting food based on locally sourced products and has become a national benchmark since, in addition to having been awarded by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, it has served as an example and inspiration for other Autonomous Communities and for the drafting of the Royal Decree on Healthy and Sustainable School Canteens of the State."
The Canarian Institute of Agri-Food Quality (ICCA) manages around 250 tons of food each year, coming from a production system in which fertilizers, pesticides, or food additives of chemical synthesis, nor genetically modified organisms are used.
To be part of Ecocomedores, all centers commit to making an optimal consumption of organic, fresh, and seasonal products in accordance with nutritional recommendations and in compliance with an order that prioritizes local organic production over conventional ones, and in any case, those of the island over those supplied by other providers.
These are requested through a computer application designed by the ICCA, which offers a wide range of organic products according to the planning carried out with farmers. In addition, it has the support of the island councils, which collaborate in its distribution on each of the islands.
Furthermore, Ecocomedores is also committed to implementing an active training process aimed at the producers who make up this network, with the goal of advising them and promoting the sustainability and economic viability of their production processes.
Likewise, it coordinates the configuration of the menus with the kitchen and dining room teams, while through the teaching staff it promotes awareness activities in the classroom about the importance of consuming local products within a healthy diet.
