The “School Meals Market” in Hungary — Typical Characteristics of Demand and Supply

Abstract

Abstract The present study examines the Hungarian practice of public catering for children from an economic perspective, bearing in mind that the production and consumption of food is, at the same time, an economic activity. Taking this approach, we focus on which institutions contribute to or hinder efficiency, by which we mean the efforts of economic agents to generate maximum welfare from the available (meager) resources. For social reasons, the supply of public catering for children is a statutory obligation on the part of local authorities, where efficiency must be combined with social considerations. The study reviews the rationing mechanism of school meals catering as a public service, looking first at the main factors determining the level of demand for public catering for children, and then at the main factors that influence supply.