‘If you permit everyone to bring their own food, how can you be sure that something won’t happen?’

What started as a spat between parents and schools has become overtly political, with representatives from the centre-left Democratic party supporting the ban on homemade lunches as a way to maintain civility and order and a representative from the conservative Forza Italia party supporting la schiscetta, or food brought from home. (…)

Bringing food from home, she said, compromised the values the schools are trying to teach students about food and nutrition. “Lunch is an educational moment. They need to learn to sit together, to have proper, safe and organic food, and that they can’t just have potato chips and chocolate. They are in school and that means community,” the spokeswoman said.

The fledgling rebellion is seen among some as the start of a dangerous unraveling of social norms.

“We are only talking about five, six, seven people who are raising an issue with this. They are claiming the right to do what they want and it is unacceptable. If you are in school, there are rules, otherwise everything collapses. Then they will start to claim the rights over what they’re studying,” Scavuzzo’s spokeswoman said.