Low income earners may soon be a regular sight in public sector canteens.

A ministerial working group would like to end demographic and labour-market segregation at lunchtimes.

The unemployed, the retired and housewives may soon be eating their lunches in public-sector office canteens, if a Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM) working group proposal finds favour.

In some municipalities the proposal has already been tested: in Oulu, the aged are free to enter schools and enjoy a school lunch. The working group notes that feedback from experienced municipalities has been positive, though the experience has not been heavily documented or analysed because the scheme has not yet undergone wider trials.

“It would be fantastic if older people could enjoy a canteen lunch with their grandchildren at school, or pop into the daughter’s workplace to spend lunch with her. Why should different demographics always be segregated?” asks Sirpa Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, a ministerial adviser at the STM.

The proposal will remain little more than a suggestion for the time being because planning for how it might be put into practice has been left to municipalities. In its current form the proposal is not terribly revolutionary – many regions already provide meals in service centres for elderly and disabled citizens living at home.

Price decides

One key question may be the price of the meal: unemployed and low-income diners will hardly flock to enjoy school lunches that are beyond their budgets.

“As an idea, it is brilliant, but the working group has not discussed whether meals would be charged or by how much,” notes Soile Paahtama, a senior

adviser at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

Kalevi Kivistö, chair of the pensioners’ association, Eläkeläiset ry, feels the idea is worth investigating further. He sees increased contact between generations as one positive aspect of the proposal.

“Naturally, this only concerns pensioners who are mobile enough to travel to a canteen. People whose meal needs have to be catered for at home are in the most difficult position,” he warns.

Tough nutrition measures

Deliberately vague

“The idea sounds like a excellent way of meeting a deficiency in our organisational field, there just aren’t canteens for the unemployed. Ultimately, though, it is a question of price,” adds Lea Karjalainen, director of the national organisation for the unemployed, TVY ry.

According to Sirpa Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, who chaired the STM working group, the proposal was deliberately vague on pricing because each municipality faces a different situation. She nevertheless concedes that making progress with the proposal will require concrete examples and specific guidelines. They will be discussed at the consultation stage when representatives from regional authorities and canteen-catering companies are invited to comment.

The working group asserts that meals in office canteens are often heavy on salt and saturated fats, with insufficient vegetables and fibre. They claim that the quality of meals is poor because catering companies focus on keeping prices down. In a bid to address this specific issue, the group has drawn up strict criteria for the recommended fat, salt and fibre content of main courses and side dishes.

Similar attempts to regulate the nutritional industry have been made in the past but the problem has largely not been monitored. No one currently monitors whether providers and customers of catering services are applying nutritional guidelines or not.

“The National Institute for Health and Welfare should name some kind of group and researcher who would be responsible for the matter,” Sarlio-Lähteenkorva suggests.

Annu Marjanen – STT
Matthew Parry – HT
Lehtikuva - Vesa Moilanen
Lehtikuva - Martti Kainulainen