Study visit to Milan

Obs Delfshaven Participates in the Healthy Wave Project. The primary school from Rotterdam has been assigned Milan as a mentor city. As part of the project, we were invited to get acquainted with the regional approach of the Milan district.

June 24, 2024

The first day started at the headquarters of the Milan Food Policy Headquarters. Here, we were introduced to Milan's approach. Many stakeholders were present, presenting their roles and actions. This gave us a clear picture of Milan's approach.

It quickly became clear to us that the school lunches in Milan are well-organized and that we can learn a lot from them. What stood out to us as a school is the high participation of students who eat the lunches at school. It is a challenge for us to get all students to eat. In Milan, the percentage of students not eating is much lower.

Furthermore, we noticed that Milan's approach is very broad. While our focus is on a well-filled stomach, Milan's focus is not only eating healthy lunches but also a social, sustainable, and environmentally friendly approach . There are dining areas, students know where the food comes from, and they have their own responsibilities during lunch, such as setting and clearing the tables.

What we found interesting is that students are informed about the food cycle, from production to consumption to sorting and compensating for leftovers.

June 25, 2024

Today, a visit to one of the distribution centers of Milano Ristorazione was on the agenda. Here, we were taken through the process. We saw how the food arrived, was stored, and how the meals were prepared and distributed in a very professional way. We were very enthusiastic about the fact that almost all the food arrived in the morning and by the afternoon, a fresh meal was on the plate of the Milanese students. It is, of course, fantastic that everything can be offered so fresh.

It was impressive to see that the produce for the lunches are mostly local products. The food was grown or cultivated in the countryside of Milan. The food is prepared in one of the large kitchens in Milan and then distributed to the Milanese schools.

June 26, 2024

Today was time for brainstorming. The situation in Rotterdam was central to this. The city of Rotterdam worked on their own case. The case was elaborated and optimized using a specific stakeholder analysis map. This provided better insight into our situation. Of course, we incorporated the knowledge gained in Milan.

The city of Milan also worked on our case, based on their experiences during the development of the Healthy Wave in their own city.

At the end of the morning, the cases were presented. Because Milan shared their knowledge and experiences with us, good ideas quickly emerged. However, the big difference between the two cities is that in Rotterdam, we do not work with a parental contribution. In Rotterdam, lunches are not organized through structural funding, but are financed by obtaining grants and subsidies.

Conclusions

We look back on three interesting and educational days in Milan. The professionalism of the organization and the high standard is impressive. All the cogs are perfectly aligned, and nothing is left to chance. We have become aware that we are still far from this ideal situation in Rotterdam. This is partly because we are very dependent on the political climate in our country. Despite these circumstances, we have received good tools in Milan to further develop our project and eventually apply it in Rotterdam.