- Title: POLAND: Polish schools use Russian food ban surplus for underprivileged children
- Date: 30th September 2014
- Summary: PACZYNA, POLAND (SEPTEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) TOMATO PLANTATION IN GREENHOUSE WORKER HARVESTING TOMATOES TOMATOES VARIOUS OF TOMATO PACKAGING LINE CHORZOW, POLAND (SEPTEMBER 26, 2014) (REUTERS) CORRIDOR OF CHORZOW GYMNASIUM AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN CORRIDOR SCHOOL CAFETERIA STUDENTS HAVING LUNCH STUDENTS AT TABLE COOK BARBARA ORANTEK DELIVERING MEALS FOOD IN CONTAINER (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) COOK, BARBARA ORANTEK, SAYING: "It helps us a lot to feed our children, because there are different children, right? If we get food from the food bank then of course, even the children who haven't paid the lunch subscription will eat. They can always come for some free soup and they are always fed and don't leave the school hungry." CHILDREN AT TABLE CAFETERIA (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GYMNASIUM AND HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, KATARZYNA SIKORA, SAYING: "The first problem for the school is organizing the transport. We've managed to do it for free, the husband of our teacher acted as a sponsor and delivered the food with his own van and carried it on his own back. We also had to process and store it ourselves. We have two big freezers, so we had the cooks portion it and packed it and now we have the possibility of using it during the coming week or two." SILESIAN FOOD BANK IN CHORZOW INSCRIPTION "FOOD BANK" VARIOUS OF VEGETABLES PACKED ONTO TRUCK VARIOUS OF FOOD GATHERED IN STORAGE JAN SZCZESNIEWSKI, PRESIDENT OF THE SILESIAN BANK FOOD SHOWING VEGETABLES CAULIFLOWER IN SZCZESNIEWSKI'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) HEAD OF THE SILESIAN FOOD BANK, JAN SZCZESNIEWSKI, SAYING: "I cannot imagine a school travelling some tens or hundreds of kilometers for 50,100 or 200 kilograms of fruit or vegetables. And which farmer would decide, even with these supplements, to deliver some hundreds of goods from school to school? That is absurd! These people are supposed to be occupied with agricultural production and not logistic work. In that case somebody lacks the imagination and the permission for schools to receive food from the (food) bank." EMPLOYEE MOVING CRATES WITH CABBAGE APPLES IN BOXES
- Embargoed: 15th October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA52M5XSPTGAE5N47IAUW7HB8JU
- Story Text: A school in southern Poland is using surplus food resulting from a Russian food ban on EU products to feed children who cannot afford to pay their lunch subscription. Poland, which is one of the leading economies in the region, still struggles with poverty in some regions, which leaves an estimated 500,000 schoolchildren malnourished.
Last month Moscow imposed a one-year embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway in retaliation for Western sanctions over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.
Food banks are filled with agricultural products that would normally have been exported to Russia. They are delivered by farmers who receive EU subsidies as part of a series of rescue packages for farmers affected by the Russian ban.
The gymnasium and high school in Gorzow is able to feed all of its students regardless of their material status thanks to food collected from the local food bank.
"It helps us a lot to feed our children, because there are different children, right? If we get food from the food bank then of course, even the children who haven't paid the lunch subscription will eat. They can always come for some free soup and they are always fed and don't leave the school hungry," said cook at the school cafeteria Barbara Orantek.
The procedure is still rare due to red tape surrounding procedures of acquiring food by schools, and the Gorzow gymnasium copes thanks to the direct involvement of a sponsor.
"The first problem for the school is organizing the transport. We've managed to do it for free, the husband of our teacher acted as a sponsor and delivered the food with his own van and carried it on his own back. We also had to process and store it ourselves. We have two big freezers, so we had the cooks portion it and packed it and now we have the possibility of using it during the coming week or two," said principal Katarzyna Sikora, who added that up to one in five of her students might not be able to afford a full meal every day.
Local laws on supplying schools with food products normally do not consider acquiring it from food banks, making the process difficult to implement formally. According to current rules, food must be obtained directly from producers, not intermediaries like food banks.
"I cannot imagine a school travelling some tens or hundreds of kilometres for 50,100 or 200 kilograms of fruit or vegetables," said head of the Silesia food bank, Jan Szczesniewski.
"In that case somebody lacks the imagination and the permission for schools to receive food from the (food) bank," he added. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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