What is MUMS?
The MUMS project aims at increasing the popularity of school meals provided by the City of Vantaa. Another goal is that more and more Vantaa schoolchildren and students eat a school lunch.
Why does Vantaa need MUMS?
The 2023 school-health survey showed that in Vantaa only 51,1 % of students eat a school lunch every day. In particular, the participation of 7th – 9th-graders is alarmingly low.
What are the goals of MUMS?
- Each schoolchild and student eat a school lunch.
- The school canteen and meals are deemed enticing.
- Each schoolchild and student can influence the eating situation, when they so wish.
- Schoolchildren and students make more environmentally friendly meal choices.
How can we reach the goals?
- As of 2025, Vantaa is improving the quality of school meals with the help of an annual additional appropriation of €100,000.
- Vantaa increases junior high schoolers’ joint meals and simultaneously offers fringe-benefit meals to all the teachers that instruct 7th – 8th-graders. A sum of €210 000 has been reserved for the 2025 fall semester, as well as an appropriation of €420 000 as of the year 2026 onward.
The goals of students’ and teachers’ joint meals is to:- Significantly reduce the number of those 7th – 8th-graders that do not take a school lunch
- To reduce consumption of unhealthy snacks during the school day.
- To minimize the situations where a student eats alone. Fifteen percent of junior high schoolers said that fear of eating alone is the reason why they sometimes skip school lunches (Vantaan oma kouluruokakysely, 2024, “Vantaa's own school-meal survey, 2024”).
- To increase social interaction related to eating, as well as appreciation for food.
- Vantaa is improving the coziness of school canteens. In 2023, €240 000 were spent on this purpose.
- Vantaa involves students. Each elementary school has a meal group. Furthermore, early childhood education units and upper secondary education institutions have meal-group activities, as well.
