School cafeteria costs increasing for families, Trapani among most expensive

Last Updated: May 14, 2024

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Eighty-four and 85 euros per month, or 4.20 and 4.26 euros per meal: this is the average expenditure incurred by an Italian family for the school canteen of a child enrolled respectively in primary or infant school. This is the snapshot taken by the seventh survey of Cittadinanzattiva on the cost of school canteens in Italy. The region that is on average the most expensive is Basilicata (109 euros per month), followed by Emilia Romagna (107 euros) and Liguria (103 euros). The cheapest region, on the other hand, is Sardinia (61 euros for infant school and 65 for primary school), followed closely by Umbria (67 euros). The cost of school canteens compared to the previous survey – referring to 2022/23 – increased by over 3%. However, the changes are distributed differently at the regional level. Only in two regions, in fact, the cost of the meal remains unchanged compared to the previous year (Abruzzo and Valle d’Aosta) and only in four regions (Basilicata, Lazio, Tuscany, and Umbria) it decreases. In the others, however, there are also very significant increases, such as in the case of Calabria (+26%), followed by Lombardy (+7.5%), Molise (+7.2%), Puglia (+6.9%), Liguria (+6.83%), and Friuli Venezia Giulia (+5.9%). In the ranking of the cheapest cities for the school canteen service, Barletta ranks first, followed by Cagliari, Ragusa, and Enna. On the podium of the most expensive cities, instead, Turin confirms the first position of recent years, followed by Modena, Trapani, and Livorno. “For years we have been asking for school catering to become an essential public service, and among the recommendations provided by the National Action Plan for the implementation of the childhood guarantee, there is the gradual provision of free school meals for everyone, starting from children living in absolute poverty. A condition that unfortunately affects more and more children: 4.9% of children under 16 years are in a condition of food deprivation and 2.5% cannot afford a protein meal a day,” declares Adriana Bizzarri, national coordinator of the School of Cittadinanzattiva.