A variety of events and discussions are being held within the framework of COP17, and I am very happy that here, in the blue zone, we have the opportunity to present the successful experience of the "School Meals" program of Armenia. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia Zhanna Andreasyan on Monday told this to reporters, on the sidelines of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

According to her, the fact that this is a successful experience is visible in the world, and Armenia is also being approached to present the experience of this program and to assist other countries.

“It is no coincidence that the ‘School Meals’ program is included in the thematic discussion of COP17, because we are talking first of all not only about nutrition and healthy food, but also about the formation of a public code of conduct through it, and especially a code of conduct that takes into account the need for biodiversity, climate change, and also revises human consumer behavior accordingly,” the minister said.

“In this sense, I attach great importance to the fact that the ‘School Meals’” program is also part of the educational program for us. You know, a healthy lifestyle course has been introduced in schools [in Armenia] and is a mandatory course, an important component of which concerns healthy food and discussions on such topics,” she added.

“Within the framework of the program, we also have experience in building greenhouses, intensive gardens in schools, which help, on the one hand, to teach very important knowledge, and on the other hand, to make all this part of the chain and to include the provision of food in schools in a self-sufficient chain in some sense. I think that our experience is very successful in all respects and today's discussion also will provide an opportunity to present this once again,” the minister said;

She emphasized that within the framework of this program, she considers its expansion in Yerevan to be the most important thing they can do.

According to her, they are now thinking also about expanding the “Healthy Food” program to include other grades in Armenia’s schools.

“Today's panel discussion will be around these topics, and we will have representatives not only from Armenia, but also from departments from various countries, who will talk about their problems and their experiences,” she noted.

Also, Zhanna Andreasyan considered it important that lessons be held outside the schools, too.

“We attach great importance to the fact that hikes, camps, and conducting lessons in outdoor areas are part of the daily routine of our schools. In the case of newly built schools, in all places where the space allows, we also try to get outdoor areas, small gardens, pavilions where children can do lessons.

In addition, we attach great importance to our schoolchildren visiting various monuments in their community, taking care of them, and thus making their relationship with historical and cultural monuments, nature a part of their daily lives. This also helps to form very important skills: to orient themselves in the area, to obtain the simplest knowledge through various signs; this is an irreplaceable skill. Regardless of technological developments, I consider this to be a basic skill that every one of our children should have," the Armenian minister emphasized.