Proposal for menus for school food with native species from brazilian biodiversity

Abstract

Encouraging the use of fruits, vegetables and seeds from Brazilian biodiversity in school food menus can promote substantial changes towards healthy and sustainable eating patterns. The research aimed to develop afternoon snack menus for children aged three to five years in Early Childhood Education, using native species from Brazilian socio-biodiversity, and which meet the PNAE parameters. The menus were created based on the 94 native species of socio-biodiversity with food value. Five menus were created for the afternoon snack that provide 20% of the day's nutritional needs. Considering the food variety, two sweet preparations, two savory preparations and one drink were selected. The species selected as ingredients were: araçá, butiá, pinhão, taioba and pitanga. The culinary preparations were: araçá jelly, sweet butiá biscuit, savory pine nut biscuit, taioba pesto and cherry drink with milk. It was found that Brazilian biodiversity species are rich in nutrients and contribute to achieving the energy values indicated by the PNAE for school menus, being healthy and sustainable food alternatives.