The school catering service is facing an extremely delicate period which, in recent years, has been marked by the abandonment of many families who used it in the past. A previous survey, at local level, highlighted two fundamental aspects: (i) the negative influence on the quality of the service of the time that passes from cooking to the consumption of the dishes and (ii) the high level of dissatisfaction, associated with a low knowledge of the main characteristics of the service, of the parents interviewed. The consequence of these two aspects is the growing transition to alternative solutions, first of all the so-called "home meal". The main objective of the project, carried out in close collaboration with the Municipality of Turin, is the development of indications, suggestions and proposals aimed at improving the whole school of meals.To this end, the research was structured around five main activities:

• hygienic-sanitary evaluation of the preparation of meals for the school meals service: observation of the work of the staff of the cooking centers to evaluate compliance with the indications provided by the tender documents, the food law and the EC Reg. 2073/05,
• sensory analysis of the meals of the school meals service: tasting of the dishes immediately after their preparation and during the distribution of the schools, in order to evaluate the qualitative evolution of the food, the influence of the time factor and identify the actions corrective,
• observation of the refectories and the time of the meal, in terms of the mental and physical well-being of all the pupils,
• qualitative interviews with the teaching staff, in order to understand their point of view with respect to the two modalities that distinguish the meal at school (the traditional and the domestic one) and to the changes that this possibility has introduced in social, relational, educational terms, etc.,
• analysis of the statistical data of the catering service on all schools on an urban scale, in historical series.

• Pasto a scuola e benessere degli allievi

• Grassi M.A., Osella E., Civera T., Bosca R., Golzio F., Rosignoli M. – Controlli igienico-sanitari in impianti adibiti alla ristorazione collettiva - Ind. Alim. XLVII - 2008 - maggio, 1-8.

• Prof. Egidio Dansero (Coordinatore Dip. CPS) – Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società – Università degli Studi di Torino,
• Dr. Alessia Toldo (Borsista Dip. CPS) - Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società – Università degli Studi di Torino,
• Prof. Daniela Converso (Dip. Psicologia) – Dipartimento di Psicologia – Università degli studi di Torino