Chef Anton Prokofiev assessed the idea of removing pizza from the menus of Russian school cafeterias

The dispute over pizza in school cafeterias

A debate has flared up in Russia over whether pizza belongs in school cafeterias. On November 5, presidential aide Elena Yampolskaya spoke out against selling this dish in school canteens and buffets: in her view, pizza cannot be considered healthy for children. At the same time, as Gazeta.Runotes, she does not object to children eating pizza at home or at parties with their parents' permission.

The culinary community's response

The idea of a ban drew a mixed reaction from the culinary community. Chef Anton Prokofiev, in an interview with the radio station Govorit Moskva , said that pizza should not be removed from the menu: its nutritional value (calories, protein, fats, and carbohydrates) is practically no different not only from traditional pirozhki, but also from rasstegai, kulebyaka, and other similar baked goods. He also emphasized that pizza is a simpler dish to prepare. 'Children love pizza. It seems to me that only those who either do not value their own children very much, or simply have no children, can fight against pizza,' Prokofiev concluded, paraphrasing Professor Preobrazhensky's famous line from 'Heart of a Dog' about councils 'of cosmic scale and cosmic stupidity.'

Context

The essence of the disagreement between the two sides comes down to different assessments of the same product: Yampolskaya proceeds from the assumption that pizza is generally unhealthy for children, while Prokofiev points to the comparability of its composition with familiar school cafeteria dishes. No official decision following the debate is reported in the publications: so far, only the stated positions are being discussed. Earlier, according to Gazeta.Ru, Rospotrebnadzor stated that children who eat in school cafeterias add less salt to their food.