The cost of meals will rise this fall due to increases in food or energy prices. An increase which should weigh on the budgets of the parents of French pupils, but also of the local communities which remain free on the way of digesting these increases.
Inflation also invites itself on children’s plates at school. The consumer association Confédération Syndicale des Familles (CSF) indicated last week that it feared a rise in the price of school meals. Some communities have already decided to support this price increase. In others, the social pricing of meals, in force in about half of the municipalities, could make it possible to protect households with the smallest budgets from an additional financial effort.
François Petit is mayor of La Garnache, in the west of France. To cope with inflation, the elected official and his advisers opt for a meal at a single price, conditioned according to family income. ” One of the ways to help families is to help those who need it the most. So, in this case, we have set up the meal at one euro, so that any family with a family quotient of less than 400 could benefit from this meal at one euro, rather than 3.70, which makes still an effort for the community of 2.70 euros per meal “, he explains.
School catering professionals require an effort
Not all municipalities make this choice. In the neighboring commune of Froidedond, the municipality pays a small part, but the price is the same, regardless of income. ” The municipal council has decided to increase the price of the meal from 3.70 to 3.85 euros, knowing that the increase is not entirely passed on to families. We now have 245 families registered in our canteen and to fully pass it on, we would have had to lower the price of the meals to 4.10 euros “, underlines Philippe Guérin, the mayor of the community.
Preparing meals for school children is becoming more and more expensive. So the National Collective Catering Union is asking for an effort ” on average 7% to town halls to deal with inflation.
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