Indonesia launched the ambitious programme to provide free meals for schoolchildren and pregnant women on Jan 6 to combat stunted growth caused by malnutrition. - Antara
JAKARTA: The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is considering including insects, such as grasshoppers or sago grubs in the free nutritious meal programme menu in some regions as alternative protein sources.
BGN head Dadan Hindayana explained that the free meal menu could be adjusted to local resources and food consumption habits in every region across the archipelago.
“In certain regions, maybe insects such as grasshoppers or sago grubs can be part of the protein sources,” Dadan said in Jakarta on Saturday, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Dadan further explained that variety in local food ingredients was key to running the free meals programme, stressing the agency’s main focus on ensuring fulfillment of nutritional standards and not on delivering one type of menu to all recipients across the country.
For example, he said, in regions where eggs were consumed as staple food, then it would be the main component of the region’s free meals menu. This would also be applied to regions with main protein sources coming from fish or other local food ingredients.
Dadan emphasised that protein sources in many regions had been relying on local food resources and food consumption preferences.
He added that the same approach would be applied to expanding potential sources of carbohydrates, pointing to an example of food consumption habits in West Halmahera, North Maluku, where cassava and boiled banana are consumed as alternatives to rice.
“So, the free meals menu is not rigid, but flexible, adjusting to local needs,” he said.
The agency has expressed the hope that this approach will support the nutrition needs of Indonesian people by utilising local food sources.
The agency has also considered providing milk only in areas near dairy farms, while other areas will turn to alternative sources to meet nutritional needs due to limited milk supply. Since it was launched on Jan 6, the free meals programme has reached 650,000 schoolchildren in 31 provinces.
But during the first two weeks of the programme rollout, dozens of cases of foodborne illness were recorded among participating schools in multiple regions.
“Such incidents will serve as an important point in the evaluation by the BGN to tighten standard procedures at every step of preparation for the free meals programme to ensure quality and hygiene,” Presidential Communications Office (PCO) head Hasan Nasbi said on Jan 17.
The government has earmarked Rp 71 trillion to fund the initial stages of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals programme this year.
The President has expressed optimism that the programme will reach all Indonesian children by the end of 2025, with a progressive target of three million, six million and 15 million children by April, August and September, respectively.
On expanding the programme’s reach, BGN head Dadan estimated the agency would require additional funding of Rp 100 trillion for this year, with the Finance Ministry saying it was identifying potential spending room that could be reallocated to meet the additional sums needed. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
