One in five children lives in poverty in Belgium. An important indicator of this is empty or unhealthy lunch boxes. To draw attention to this problem, Tiense Suiker, Pelicano (Foundation against child poverty), BelOrta and 10 Belgian schools have joined forces. On 14 September, they launched a large-scale jam campaign, in which around 10,000 jam jars were made and sold. The goal? To raise as much money as possible to fill healthy lunch boxes for children in poverty!
Alarming figures
Pelicano knows from figures from Statbel that more than half a million Belgian children are growing up in poverty. A survey of 317 teachers shows that the problem certainly does not go unnoticed. Almost half (45%) of teachers think that more than 5 of their pupils in their class live below the poverty line. According to 15% of teachers, this even concerns more than 20 of their pupils. And then they fear that more than a quarter (27%) of child poverty remains under the radar.
Kristof De Boever, Head of partnerships at Pelicano: “An unhealthy or empty lunch box is an important indicator of child poverty for us. The fact that teachers see an increase sets off all the alarm bells for us. The majority of our care partners are teachers and they have contact with their pupils for an average of 4.5 days. But they probably only see the tip of the iceberg.”
Selling jam for a healthy lunch
In order to draw attention to the problem, Pelicano, Tiense Suiker and BelOrta asked 10 cooking schools to make jam. The partners supplied no less than 4 tons of apples, 2.5 tons of sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and 10,000 glass jars to schools in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia.
The schools were already very enthusiastic about the project. Hilde Bruyninckx, Hotel Teacher at the Site-A school: “We are proud that our own students can also contribute to this problem. This is very valuable, also for them.” Kristof De Boever of Pelicano also confirms: “On the one hand, hundreds of students gave their best to make the jam and they also became aware of the fact that this was for the benefit of underprivileged children, which only strengthened their commitment.”
In most schools, the jars are already sold out, in a number of other schools the campaign is still running (cf. list below). Regardless of the proceeds from the sale, the business partners will ensure that a total of 20,000 lunch boxes can be filled with a delicious school meal.
The lunch boxes will be filled with a healthy meal, such as a wrap, a sandwich with lean filling, vegetables, yoghurt and fruit. Pelicano will distribute the lunch boxes in the spring on the “Day of the full lunch box”, in which well-known chefs will also participate.
Sweetness for all
Tiense Suiker vond het belangrijk om zo’n initiatief op poten te zetten en de problematiek wat extra aandacht te schenken. Guy Paternoster, CEO van Tiense Suiker: “Als bekend merk en als een vooraanstaande speler in de Belgische voedingsindustrie zijn wij ervan overtuigd dat het onze verantwoordelijkheid is om waardevolle bijdragen aan de samenleving te leveren.”
Tiense Suiker streeft er ook naar om de samenwerking verder te versterken: “we vinden het belangrijk om meer bewustzijn te creëren.” Dit is trouwens niet de enige actie van Tiense Suiker: in december lanceert de suikerproducent, voor het 6de jaar op rij, “Sweet Christmas for all”, een samenwerking met de Belgische Voedselbanken.
Participating schools
- Busleyden Atheneum Stassart, Mechelen
- Provinciaal Instituut PIVA, Antwerpen
- Sint-Lutgardisinstituut, Mol
- Instituut Stella Matutina, Brakel
- Leiepoort Campus Sint Theresia, Deinze
- Hotelschool Gent
- GO!COOVI secundair onderwijs, Elishout Anderlecht
- SIMA, Aarschot
- Spermalie, Brugge
Ilon Saint Jacques, Namen
