This study examines the practice of children’s catering from an economic perspective,
since the production and consumption of food is also an economic activity. In this
approach, we focus on which institutions help or hinder efficiency, by which we mean
the effort of an economic actor to create the greatest possible prosperity from the
available (scarce) resources. Providing public catering for children – due to social
considerations – is an obligation of local governments defined by law, where efficiency
must also be combined with social considerations. In our thesis, we review the “dispensation
mechanisms” of children’s catering as a public service, first examining the most important
factors that determine the magnitude of the demand for children’s public catering,
and then those that influence the supply.
