Alimentação escolar e a produção de resíduos orgânicos na rede municipal de ensino em tempo integral de João Pessoa-PB

Abstract

Schools with Integral Education are establishments where students stay for more than one shift and carry out activities that go beyond formal education. The number of schools with integral education has been increasing in Brazil associated with governmental programs like "More Education" and "New High School". Considering the provision of three meals a day to students in these educational units, a large amount of organic residues from food is expected. This is a qualitative-quantitative research that carried out a case study in schools of the Integral Time Teaching Network of the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba. It aimed to characterize the production of food waste from these educational units. Data from the Municipal Department of Education indicate that the Network is formed by 16 units located in the urban area. Initially those responsible for the production of school meals were invited to present the objectives and to participate in the activities to be carried out. For the collection of information, semi-structured questionnaires were used, with objective questions focused on food safety and food waste production. To quantify waste production, a four-day period of data collection and weighing of food and waste generated was established. The collected data were analyzed and processed statistically and thus presented in two papers. The first paper corresponds to the profile and perception of the school food handlers regarding the production of meals and the residues resulting from the process. In it, the important role of women in school feeding was evidenced, as well as problems with the elaboration of proposed menus and lack of adequate management of organic waste. The second article indicates factors that influence the production of organic residues, being verified that the analyzed schools present a production of organic residues with daily averages of 35.67 kg, monthly of 713.57 kg and annual of 7,135.75 kg, by schools. The stage that presented the highest production of residues was that of consumption accounting for 64.43% and with high values of Rest-Ingestion Index, presenting a general average among schools of 19%, in a scale where the maximum acceptable value is 10 %. The data obtained from this research can be used to improve the management of food the school feeding and its real use in quantitative and qualitative terms, as well as to provide a theoretical basis for proposals for efficient management of organic waste generated.