Christmas in Finland (FIN)

Dear partners,

we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you for your cooperation during the first year of our project.  Here is a little description of how we celebrate Christmas in Finland, written by our 8th graders.

In Finland, Christmas Eve (24 December) is celebrated more than Christmas Day (25 December). On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas comes and gives gifts to children or the gifts are put under the Christmas tree. We believe that Father Christmas lives in Finland, in a place called Korvatunturi in Lapland. Father Christmas's sleigh is pulled by reindeer. Many people go to church on Christmas morning.

We eat many different kinds of food during Christmas time. We eat Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, usually after Christmas sauna and before opening the presents. Christmas dinner includes for example carrot casserole, swede casserole, potatoes, peas, salmon or other kinds of fish. The most important food on the table for many Finns is ham. We also eat rice pudding and gingerbread and drink home-brewed beer or mulled wine during Christmas time.

Merry Christmas or "Hyvää Joulua" as we say in Finnish! :)

The students and staff of Vesannon yhtenäiskoulu

The Food Pyramid (Poland)

IN EUROPE

Nowadays on the Internet you may find an abundance of information concerning rules of healthy eating and a balanced diet. Moreover, there are many diets to be chosen and followed by which surprisingly do not lead to more conscious approach to eating, but rather to various nutritious deficits. What is more, labels put on foodstuff (which aim was to enhance the food consumption awareness) are very often incomprehensible for an ordinary buyer. That is why, in order to make the idea of healthy eating more understandable for the customers the World Health Organization created Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG).

 

 

FBDG focus not on the amount of particular nutrients in food and their intake but rather on types of food people should eat. Those guidelines are often presented by means of graphic formats (a pyramid, a plate, a house, stairs) and provide a piece of advice concerning the amount of particular food which we should implement into our daily diet. They are also population-oriented and very often aim to decrease the number of particular health problems present within the society (for Europe it is mainly about cancer, obesity, heart diseases and diabetes). Therefore, the FBDG graphic formats and products recommended for eating vary slightly in different countries. What is more, the FBDG graphic formats are often supported by written principles useful in clarification of healthy eating patterns of beahviour that are advised. The types of products presented in graphic formats may also vary.

More information about FBDG you may find here:
http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/food-based-dietary-guidelines-in-europe/

IN POLAND

Polish graphic format is made of six food groups and it resembles the pyramid. Water is placed outside this food pyramid. Apart from the visual form there are also rules for healthy living given (11 for adults and 10 for kids/teenagers) which include for example detailed instructions about the intake of salt. When it comes to the lifestyle special emphasis is put on physical activity and the most characteristic dairy products for Poland are kefir (kind of buttermilk) and cottage cheese.

Polish guidelines for healthy living are to be found here:

http://www.izz.waw.pl/pl/zasady-prawidowego-ywienia

We have translated them for you:

1.      Pay attention to choosing a variety of products eaten.

2.      Don’t forget about physical activity in order to avoid obesity.

3.      The main source of energy should be for you cereals.

4.      You should drink two glasses of milk every day or you can replace them with yoghurt, kefir or cheese (to some extend).

5.      Eat meat in moderation.

6.      Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables every day.

7.      Try to limit the consumption of fats and oils, especially those of the animal origin.

8.      Eat sweets and sugar in moderation.

9.      Limit the intake of salt.

10.  Drink a lot of water.

11.  Don’t drink alcohol.

As this Erasmus+ project activity was to be done in our native language most of the presentations below are in Polish, but the students decided to prepare some in English in order to share them with our partners abroad.