Xavier Bolla has one of the toughest jobs in a school. He's responsible for keeping hundreds of students fed at Telopea Park School's canteen - known as La Cantine.
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As a chef by trade, he's not daunted by preparing fresh meals and snacks every day, from pizzetta and corn fritters to salads and wraps.
On Friday, the canteen makes 130 lunch orders, all individually bagged and served at once.
"You can get a dozen kids in 45 minutes so there's a lot of logistics behind it. So you have to keep what you can do, not too much but do it well. And it has to go fast," Mr Bolla said.
![Xavier Bolla manages La Cantine at Telopea Park School. Picture by Karleen Minney Xavier Bolla manages La Cantine at Telopea Park School. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/33pRA5ArzT57tWtt8VHHenS/2fac7135-dd29-46a8-9e7e-8299407d848e.jpg/r0_192_5406_3231_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Public school canteens are required to adhere to strict healthy eating guidelines which follow a traffic light system.
Telopea Park School canteen used to sell fizzy drinks and fried foods high in salt and fat. But now Mr Bolla sources artisan pies from a Fyshwick bakery where he used to work and sushi hand rolls are purchased from a local sushi restaurant.
"I'm using Bakers Delight for my bread and focaccia. I get my vegetable from the Fyshwick market. So we try to use [suppliers] as locally as possible.
"We have to submit to the traffic light system as well so it's better to do it yourself so you know what's going in it."
Canteens used to have Nutrition Australia ACT conduct annual menu audits to ensure they were complying with the guidelines, however the funding ran out in 2021.
The ACT government reinstated the initiative in the 2023-24 territory budget, with $418,000 allocated over four years.
"Supporting healthy nutrition in public schools is a new initiative in the 2023-24 budget to reinstate annual school canteen menu assessments," an ACT government spokesman said.
"The Education Directorate is undertaking a process to reintroduce this service."
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Nutrition Australia ACT executive officer and senior dietitian Leanne Elliston said school canteens had made significant progress over the last 10 years but some unhealthy foods and portion sizes were creeping onto canteen menus.
"There's always going to be those unhealthy options as well sneaking through so that's your pastries, a lot of your packaged, extremely ultra-processed snacks and some drinks that can either contain sugar or are in large quantities, such as large juices and so on," she said.
"ACT was leading the way when it came to provision of healthy food in school canteens and we were looked up to as as the leading state and that really concerns me when we're no longer engaged in this space."
Fruit juices can be on the menu but only in containers up to 250 millilitres. Food safety, shelf-stability and breaking even can factor into the decision of what makes it on the canteen menu.
Ms Ellison said it was a huge challenge when they first started working with school canteen managers to steer them away from traditional offerings of chips, pies and sweets.
She welcomed the return of menu assessments and the government's pilot program to offer free meals in schools. Ms Ellison said there could be scope to directly employ canteen staff to improve their pay and conditions as they are employed under the fast food award.
"We've got to take what's offered in school canteens or meal provision services very seriously because it's the health of our future. This is the wellbeing of our children."
![Xavier Bolla sources ingredients from local suppliers and makes many menu items in-house. Picture by Karleen Minney Xavier Bolla sources ingredients from local suppliers and makes many menu items in-house. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/33pRA5ArzT57tWtt8VHHenS/c457fb08-3213-4ee6-81c3-f0027d201fd0.jpg/r0_285_5568_3428_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
New school canteen managers have many regulatory hoops to jump through before they can start service.
Telopea Park School board member Kate Gauthier was concerned that some children went hungry in the months when Mr Bolla was going through the application process. Meanwhile, existing operators weren't required to live up to the health eating standards.
"These are services that children need every day to be delivered in school. It's not an optional extra," Ms Gauthier said.
She said the Education Directorate should have a responsibility to proactively ensure there was an interim canteen provider when one exits the school.
About 30 public school canteens are operated by parents and citizens associations while other are managed by private operators.
"Individual schools enter into a Licence Agreement or Deed with their canteen operator," a directorate spokesman said.
"The Education Directorate supports public schools and canteen operators with this process, and encourages feedback."
Mr Bolla encourages students to write feedback in a book. Students asked for labneh so he now makes his own and sells it with zaatar and focaccia.
Who is the tougher critic: a restaurant full of adults or a canteen with a queue of hungry children?
"The children, because they tell you straight in your face, you know. There's no thinking before talking, they just tell you."
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