Screening of the documentary film Le ventre de l’école (The Belly of the School)

Four years of research by two academics, a sociologist and an anthropologist, in French school cafeterias resulted in the documentary "Le ventre de l'école" (The Belly of the School) and the book "Les cuisines de la nation" (The Kitchens of the Nation) (DS , 1925). They demonstrate how school catering has become industrialized, disqualifying domestic cooking, that of women, both canteen workers and housewives, in favor of a professional, technical, elitist, and expert version of cooking, where humans lose the meaning of their work. Just as the "green revolution" destroyed small-scale farming, on-site school kitchens disappeared in favor of industrialization. It is the very act of feeding and caring for others that is discredited in this move. Is there not a need to invent new ways of connecting with the living world, of caring for humans and non-humans?

Le Ventre de l’école (The Belly of the School) is a film directed by Geneviève ZOÏA, Laurent VISIER, and Giacomo MARSI. Release date: March 4, 2025.