School meals defined from the perspective of students catered for under the National School Feeding Program, Brazil

Based on socio-anthropological studies into food and in connection with guidance from the Public Policy on Food and Nutrition Security in Brazil, this paper sought to objectively analyze students' views of the school meals given to them as part of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE). The data was produced through ethnographic exercises that were developed where the above Program (hereafter Program) had been implemented in a semi-arid municipality in the state of Bahia. The exercises also involved the production of written material and the use of focus groups with teenagers in primary school education. Of particular note in this study was the time and space the students had for their break/recreation period which brought to light the relationship between the body and food. Based on the responses given we were able to identify different understandings and meanings associated with the food served in these institutions. The study helped to shed some light on the relational aspects between habitual eating at "home-on the road-and-in school" with the right to have school meals. We were also able to obtain a broader understanding of the eating habits of teenagers that are catered for as part of the PNAE.