The Traditional Slovenian Breakfast project has been held in nurseries and schools every third Friday in November since 2011. This year the emphasis is on milk and dairy products, as shown by the slogan “Breakfast with milk – a great day”.
This Friday, 18 November, a traditional Slovenian breakfast will be served to around 86,000 children in nurseries and 200,000 pupils in primary schools and educational institutions for children with special needs. The children will eat traditional food such as milk, honey, butter, bread and apples, or other fresh or dry fruit of local or Slovenian origin.
On this occasion, a school in Prekmurje will be visited by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Irena Šinko, who will discuss the importance of agriculture, food production and respect for food with pupils. The Minister stressed that “Slovenian food is healthy and of a high quality, especially if it is produced locally,” and that by buying such food we also support Slovenian farmers.
The project is very important for all those employed in schools. At the same time, children learn the importance of locally produced food, agriculture, having breakfast and a healthy diet. In all the years of the project’s operation, over 2.5 million Slovenian breakfasts have been served in nurseries and primary schools.
At the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, the traditional Slovenian breakfast is seen as a way of promoting sustainability, locally produced food and short supply chains, while the Ministry of Culture emphasises the cultural aspect of the project. The National Institute of Public Health finds that the traditional Slovenian breakfast raises awareness of the importance of having breakfast. Roughly half of children aged around 12 have breakfast, but as they age this number falls. Less than one in three secondary school pupils have breakfast, although as they get older this number rises again. This is why the Institute is calling for more efforts to be made to raise awareness of the importance of having breakfast, especially among the older population.
