Many Australians have fond memories of their school canteens. But the days of getting a meat pie under two dollars are long gone. A shortage of parent volunteers and the rising cost of food has led to many school canteens and tuck shops struggle to survive. Potentially eroding a vital source of food and fun for Australian children.
00:00For decades, canteens or tuck shops have held a special place in Australian school life.
00:14When the sign went, I went down to the canteen and bought a few sweets.
00:17Do you buy sweets every day?
00:19No, only sometimes.
00:20A sausage jar, and um, and donuts.
00:24I buy a drink from the canteen.
00:27What sort of drink is that?
00:29Cake.
00:30For many adults, their school lunch order is a lasting memory.
00:35The brown paper bag and having to write your order out on that.
00:38Um, maybe mum let me do that sometimes and I would have a pie with sauce and chocolate milk.
00:44Mine was sausage roll and choccy milk.
00:48Just pizza pockets or chicken and rice curry.
00:54These days, enthusiasm for school canteens remains.
00:58But the menu's a bit different.
01:02I like the fruit cup thingies.
01:04Apple chips.
01:05My favourite lunch order are the ham and cheese toasties.
01:09The pear slice.
01:10Cheese and crackers.
01:11We've really seen that change over the years, positive improvements in nutrition.
01:17School canteens still rely on a mix of parent volunteers and paid staff.
01:22And many are doing much more than selling food.
01:26We have free lunches for sections of the school.
01:30They come in and sit at the table and have a hot meal.
01:34It is just the heart of the school.
01:36Despite their popularity, many school canteens are struggling to survive.
01:41The rising cost of food and a shortage of volunteers means many are cutting back the days they're open or closing altogether.
01:49This shouldn't go on and we need to really step up and support our school canteens so children and families have access to that food.
01:56It needs to be affordable, it needs to be nourishing and it needs to be accessible.
02:01In most states, canteens are volunteer run and receive no funding or they're outsourced to an external business.
02:09The federal and state governments are being called on to provide more money to schools for staff and equipment to make sure lunch remains a school highlight.
02:18I think the canteen is really good because it's just for me it's the best part of the day.
