Eating is a meaningful action that goes beyond the simple fulfillment of a physiological need. How and what one eats depends on the resources available in the territory that one lives in, on family habits, and on the relationship built with food, in a personal and intimate manner, since birth. The diet is a combination of eating behaviors and relationships with food that allows the preservation of health, in the psycho-physical sense. A correct nutrition since birth represents an indispensable factor to guarantee growth and the prevention of those pathologies that prevalently manifest in adulthood.
In nursery schools and pre-schools, the meals adhere to balanced dietary plans, articulated in daily, weekly and seasonal menus, and differentiated according to age groups. The menus are approved by the Nutrition and Alimentary Hygiene Service, in accordance with the Pediatric Service for the Community of the Carpi ASL 1 District. If the child must follow a particular diet, following a pathology, alimentary allergies or other dysfunctions, a medical certificate specifying the ingredients that cannot be consumed must be submitted.
Furthermore, written requests by individuals presenting particular dietary needs connected to religion or cultural customs will be taken into account, in relation to the adopted charts. The families should know that menu variations could seldom take place to encourage a greater consumption of fresh produce, particularly fruit and vegetables, in line with the indications of the Nutrition Service of the Modena ASL.

autumn-winter menu	spring-autumn menu

Use bottled water

Following the traces of asbestos found in Carpi aqueduct and communicated to the citizens in July 2013 (and few months later also in the territory of Novi di Modena), AUSL restated that the water is drinkable and widely controlled, and there aren’t risks to public health, according to medical and scientific data. In spite of the choice of Municipality to continue to support the use of tap water, families can choose bottled water for their children attending nursery schools, preschools and primary schools in Carpi and Novi di Modena. The family that will make the choice for bottled water will have to bear the expense, as well as the disposal of the bottles for the whole period of use. From the management point of view, the already working methods, tested during the last school year, are renewed, inviting families and teaching staff to adopt the most appropriate solutions according to the characteristics of the children, the section and the educational day’s organisation.

However, some advices are suggested:

• to encourage as much as possible the autonomous management of bottled water by children, with strategies that can facilitate the recognition by children of their bottle (e.g. photo or symbol on the bottle that identifies the child);
• to allow children to have access to bottled water during the whole day;
• to provide daily or weekly, individually or collectively, the correct number of bottles, avoiding quantities that can not be kept in section/class;
• to prefer, if possible, a homogeneous and coordinated supply (in agreement among several families);
• to organise educational activities in order to promote differences (eg carafes with different colors for tap water and bottled water);
• to identify a representative per school on this subject who can interface with families and Municipality.

For hygienic-sanitary reasons it should also be remembered that open bottles can not be kept for more than one day. Therefore, the open bottles must be drunk within the evening and mustn’t be re-proposed the following day. The Municipality will provide for the increase of plastic bins outside nursery schools and preschools. If the family does not provide bottled water to the child, nursery school/preschool staff will provide tap water. Teaching staff have not responsibility about storage and disposal of bottles.
Families who chose bottled water during the last school year should not renew their application; the families that would like to start from this school year must fill out the application form and communicate it to the Education Sector Secretary (059 649716, fax: 059 649719, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
At the same email address, family have to communicate the cancellation and the choice of using tap water. No changes for children who continue to drink tap water.