The IIN&IIKG values the importance of a healthy diet and sound culinary education. The latter stresses a balanced approach to delicious food, a healthy diet, a culture of no waste and low environmental impact, and the pleasure of eating together.

 

Our food menu follows the Hong Kong Health Departments guidelines and is provided by an Education Bureau approved supplier selected by the School through a tendering process. "3:2:1 ratio" for grains, vegetables and meat applies to our lunches. Snacks include a lot of fresh fruits and juices, low-fat milk, cereals, bread and eggs.

 

 

The Languages of Food

Lunch Project at the IIN&KG

The Italian International Nursery and Kindergarten (IIN&KG) promotes nutritional well-being and gustatory education for the children.

Italy and China have both a rich, diverse and deeply rooted culinary tradition. Italy is also the cradle of the “Mediterranean diet” – intangible cultural heritage according to UNESCO – and, in the educational project of the Reggio Emilia Approach, food is an emotional and relational language as well as an opportunity for new cognitive learnings through the senses, for instance in multisensory and educational activities in the cooking workshops.

Objectives

First, the lunch project is conceived to equip children with the care and development of personal autonomy at the table. Knowing how to do what is necessary to meet one's own needs is a source of security and self-esteem for the child.

Second, the lunch project provides new opportunities for important learnings. Small duties that children perform together with pleasure, make them feel grown up and encourage geometric learning (a certain arrangement of dishes on the table) and mathematics (a plate, a glass, a fork and a spoon for each child), essential for building, for example, the ability to count.

Third, the closeness of friends makes a time spent sitting around a table pleasant. The children chat, exchange comments on the morning, interact with the teachers, consolidate relationships in a dimension of intimacy and conviviality. In this way, they grasp the social dimension of nutrition, which is an important cultural aspect.

Fourth, at IIN&KG, lunch varies every day. Close to friends, children more easily accept tasting unfamiliar foods. There are rules that concern everyone and which are therefore mostly respected: accepting the food of the day on your plate, trying to taste it in order to base a judgment based on experience, or finishing what you have on your plate, or putting your cutlery etc.

References:

The Languages of Food recipes, experiences, thoughts. Reggio Children S.r.l., 2008.

Fuori Dal Nido – Cento domande e mille risposte possibili per genitori e bambini che crescono. Reggio Children, Mondadori, 2023, pp.115-117.

 

Lunching with Dubla Tray (by TABLO)

The IIN&KG warmly thanks TABLO for the donation of Dubla Trays for its Lunch Project.

 

 

 

Pictured (left to right): Carola Pasquino and Vincenzo Dubla, respectively Tablo COO & Director, welcomed at the IIN&KG by Giulia Ziggiotti, School Manager and Deputy Supervisor, and Ada Ku Ka Lai, Deputy Principal.

 

Lightweight, food safe, easy to use and to clean, colourful: with these features, Dubla Tray creates a playful and fun vibe for kids to enjoy their meals!

TABLO

Tablo is a dynamic and skilled Italian group with a long expertise in tableware and home décor products for the APAC markets. Its unique and passionate approach assists dealers in developing their activities by having a careful and thorough understanding of business objectives and goals.

 

 

pleasure

communication

growth

 

health

relationship

identity

 

prevention

emotion

habits

 

awareness

knowledge

traditions

 

quantity

encounter

lifestyles

 

quality

symbolic dialogue

choices