Our Meals, Our Voice
Children Speak on School Meals
1,235 children around the world have carried out research on the school meals they rely on each day. Their voices show the difference meals make, the problems they face and the solutions they propose. The global report and 13 national reports present children’s perspectives for school meals programmes which are shaped with children, not just for them.
Children as Researchers
This is not research about children - it is research by children.
Child researchers in Brazil, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malawi, Peru, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Zimbabwe designed their own questions, interviewed their peers, analysed the data, and reflected on the findings.
Their message is clear: school meals matter, and children want to be included in how they are organised and run. They provide children with energy to learn, improve attendance and reduce hunger. However, children also identified where meals fall short — too little food, lack of variety, unsafe kitchens, and being excluded from decision-making.
"It is important that they listen to us, because we are the ones who eat the food." (Boy, 15, Guatemala)
What Children Told Us
From Brazil to Zimbabwe, children spoke honestly about the meals they eat at school, what helps, what doesn’t, and what they hope for.
"The meals are not enough for us. We want bigger portions." (Boy, 15, Zimbabwe)
"Sometimes teachers ask us if the food is good, but nothing changes after that." (Girl, 13, Cambodia)
