School Canteen Handbook

(November 2007)

Foreword

The health and wellbeing of Tasmania’s young people is important and we need to acknowledge the growing body of evidence that underpins these concerns as it is now consistently reported that one in five Australian children are overweight or obese. In helping to address these issues within a school context it is important to identify the school canteen as having a role in the education and health of the students and school communities they serve.

The Tasmanian School Canteen Handbook was first prepared in 1994 by the School Canteen Advisory Committee in response to consistent requests for assistance in the areas of canteen management, employment of personnel and appropriate foods for sale in the school canteen. The handbook was updated and revised in 1999 and has recently been reviewed during 2005 and 2006 to provide schools with the most current information regarding the operation of school canteens.

The contents of this handbook also support a number of recent initiatives in the education and health sectors, locally and nationally, that are directed at improving the health and wellbeing of young people. These include:

• Tasmanian Food and Nutrition Policy 2004
• Active Healthy Schools brochure 2006
• Move Well Eat Well for schools project
• Additional funding to support CoolCAP canteen accreditation
• Tasmania Together
• Australian Better Health Initiative
• The Tasmanian Curriculum, Health and wellbeing syllabus
  

Toni Gray
Principal Education Officer Health and Wellbeing
Chair school Canteen Advisory Committee 2007

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Contents

1. Background
2. Introduction
   • 2.1 Food sold in school canteens
3. The role of the school canteen
4. The school canteen committee
   • 4.1 Membership
   • 4.2 Duties
   • 4.3 Developing a school canteen policy
5. Canteen management
   • 5 1 Options for canteen management
   • 5.2 Details of managing canteen undertakings
   • 5.3 Canteen management agreement
   • 5.4 General management issues
   • 5.5 Specific management issues
6. Food and nutrition
   • 6.1 Nutritional needs of children and adolescents
   • 6.2 Developing healthy eating habits
   • 6.3 Guidelines for healthy eating
   • 6.4 Guidelines for developing healthy attitudes to food
   • 6.5 Canteen foods
   • 6.6 Assessing a food product
   • 6.7 Label reading
   • 6.8 Food additives
   • 6.9 Facts and fallacies about food and nutrition
7. Marketing
   • 7.1 Daily specials
   • 7.2 Special days and prices
   • 7.3 Product names and samples
   • 7.4 Competitions
   • 7.5 Displays
   • 7.6 Prices
   • 7.7 Promotions
8. Food safety in the canteen
   • 8.1 Food safety resources
   • 8.2 Food safety basics
9. Cool Canteen Accreditation Program (Cool CAP)
   • 9.1 What is the Cool Canteen Accreditation Program (Cool CAP)?
   • 9.2 Why have it?
   • 9.3 How does it work?
   • 9.4 How can it be achieved?
   • 9.5 What are the rewards?

Appendices

1. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating – What is a sample serve?
2. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
3. Label reading
4. Canteen efficiency checklist

Download The Tasmanian School Canteen Handbook [PDF 544KB] [Word 652KB]

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