Section 6
Where the Midday Meal is Eaten

The place where the midday meal is eaten is of importance in any discussion of communal feeding. In our sample it was found that 48.2% of children ate their midday meal at home, 43.9% at work and 7.3% in cafes or restaurants. There were no very great differences between the larger industry groups, Engineering, Clerical and Distributive, although more children used cafes in these latter groups. (Table 42).

Special rooms set aside for meals

About one third of the children taking their midday meal at work stated that there was a special place set aside for eating. Most of these children 67.4% had a simply furnished room with chairs and tables, 21.2% had better accommodation, often with wireless and comfortable chairs, whilst a smaller number 5.4% had to eat in a cloakroom or wash house. 6.0% of the children ate their meals in a cellar or some other very unsatisfactory place.

These places were almost all seen by our field workers. (Table 43).

Meals taken at Work

An analysis is given in Table 44 showing where the workers for whom no special provision was made ate their meals. Percentages are of the total having their midday meal at work. (Table 44).

Feeding Facilities at Work Place

Children were asked if there were facilities for heating food or making tea and whether tables and chairs were provided for meals.

In Engineering, Clerical and Distributive industry groups a sufficiently large number of firms was covered to make the sample representative.

In Engineering, over 59% of the children stated that there were facilities for tea making and heating food whilst over 80% said that there were tables and chairs. The offices all had facilities for tea making, and over 70% had chairs and tables; in Shops all had facilities for tea making, and about 58% had tables and chairs.