The Makati City government announced on Wednesday it is planning to provide public schoolchildren in the city with free meals to lessen the burden of their parents and promote proper nutrition among the youth.
Mayor Abigail Binay tapped city education officials to conduct a study on how this additional benefits for the youth can be integrated into the existing program, Project FREE (Free Relevant and Excellent Education), and implemented in the city’s public schools.
“As a mother, I can empathize with parents worrying about being able to provide enough allowance for their children so they won’t go hungry while in school. But instead of giving them the traditional ‘baon’ in cash, we will give free meals,” Binay said.
“With this added benefit, we would lessen the financial burden of parents and, at the same time, address malnutrition among our students,” she added.
Binay said the city government will see to it that free meals served to students will be nutritious and balanced to promote their well-being and enhance their learning abilities.
“We will consult qualified nutritionist-dietitians in preparing the meal plan. We want our students to be well-nourished to have the energy and the mental acuity to perform well, if not excel, in class and in outdoor school activities,” the mayor said.
Binay also expressed hope that through the project, the students will adopt healthful eating habits and refrain from buying street foods, which are unregulated and may pose serious health risks.
The city chief executive also called on parents to complement the school project with their own efforts to make nutritious meals for their children at home.
“Proper nutrition should also be observed at home as well, to optimize the project’s health benefits derived by our students,” she said.
Mayor Binay said the project study also includes the use of produce from organic gardens being maintained in the city’s schools in the preparation of free meals.
Currently, fruits and vegetables harvested from the gardens are being used for the supplementary feeding program for undernourished students. Excess produce are then sold to parents and small eateries nearby, and the proceeds are used by the school to maintain the gardens.
Among the fruits grown in the school gardens are banana, Indian mango, Carabao mango, blackberry, rambutan, guyabano, kiat-kiat, and grapes.
Crops and leafy vegetables grown and used for the everyday feeding program in the schools include garlic, ginger, onion, lemon grass, kalamansi, chili, kamias, bell pepper, basil, malunggay, gabi, talinum, sala, Chinese kangkong, saluyot, petchay, mustard, papaya, okra, eggplant, sweet potato, cabbage, lime beans (bataw), carrots, gourd (patola), butterfly pea, as well as rice grains.
A joint effort of the city with the Department of Education-Makati, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and non-government organizations, the organic urban gardening and vermiculture raising project in the schools aims to create a “substantial and long-term impact on the fight to end hunger and poverty through food sufficiency and entrepreneurship,” according to the mayor.
Project FREE during the first term in office of Mayor Binay has been expanded to include additional benefits, such as a brand new pair of rubber shoes dubbed ‘Air Binay’ by netizens, raincoats and rain boots, hygiene and dental kits, and anti-dengue kits.
Previously, the project had provided free school supplies, uniforms and black leather shoes to students.”‹