Catering and meal patterns
Catering and meal patterns
Every third Finn eats at least one meal prepared outside the home every day
Meals prepared outside the home (large-scale catering) have a high impact on Finnish nutrition. According to the Directory of Catering Kitchens, 679 million meals were prepared by catering kitchens in Finland in 1998. This number equates to 135 meals per person. Around 30% of Finnish people eat at least one meal daily, which is prepared by the catering kitchens, i. e. outside the home. The majority of these meals were served at schools. The share of cafeterias was 17 %, and that of restaurants and hotels14%. Old people's and childrens' homes, hospitals, and staff canteens accounted for about 10% each.
A unique school meal service
School meal service in Finland is one of a kind in the world, since free school lunches are served at comprehensive schools as well as at upper secondary schools and vocational institutes every working day. This system has a long tradition. The first catering kitchens in schools were established in the early 1900's. It was, however, not until 1943 that a law was passed requiring the municipalities to arrange a free lunch for all pupils at elementary schools by 1948. The same benefit was gradually introduced to all levels of primary and secondary education. In addition, university students have had subsidized meals since 1979.
According to the law, the students in a comprehensive school - as well as in upper secondary schools and in vocational institutions - must be provided every school day with an appropriately organized and directed free school meal that is sufficient in quantity. Furthermore, recommendations for catering services have been issued for various sectors, including school meal services. According to the recommendations, the school lunch should meet one third of the student's daily nutritional requirements. Menus for comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools and vocational institutions are drawn up locally in municipalities and schools.
Circumstances in Finland have made school meals a necessity, since women generally have full-time jobs, and the distances to schools are often long in a sparsely populated country. Women working outside the home is also one of the reasons for a well organized workplace catering system in Finland. Recommendations for workplace lunches were issued in the 1970's. Moreover, meal provision at work has been included in the trade union agreements of both the public and the private sectors since 1976.
The traditional Finnish meal pattern was determined by rural work schedules. Work days were long, and the work was physically demanding with high energy consumption. Therefore, three or four warm meals with two or three lighter meals or snacks were eaten daily. Today, however, the work is physically less demanding, and people eat fewer warm meals. Still, about 40% of adults aged from 25 to 64 report eating daily three conventional meals: breakfast, warm lunch and warm dinner. More Finns eat only one warm meal instead of two warm meals. Catering systems at schools and workplaces have had their influence on the Finnish meal patterns, since almost 60% of Finnish adults report eating a warm meal at lunch time rather than at dinner time.
Finnish National Nutrition Surveillance System 1999