The Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is advancing by creating five food labs to improve the school meals offered in public schools. Chilean chef Juan Pablo Mellado recently visited to advance on the project that falls under the Food Meals Program (Programa de Alimentación Escolar) of the National Institute for Student Welfare (Inabie), an agency of the Ministry of Education. The FAO representative in the Dominican Republic, Rodrigo Castañeda, is a Chilean.
In an interview with Persio Maldonado of El Nuevo Diario, the Chilean advocate of better eating in Chile, explained the effort. He highlighted the intention is to create self-awareness of health, reduce the devastating obesity in children, feed and nourish 1.8 million school children nationwide. “Healthy people are more productive, less sickly and more active. It’s a bet on life: living longer and better. However, the most apparent results will take five years to arrive,” he explained.
The program is underway in Chile, Guatemala and Colombia.
The local efforts began in 2022 with the creation of the framework for the school food program. There is the intention to present a bill in Congress to ensure clear and key public policies to ensure the quality of food served in public schools in the Dominican Republic.
The announcement of the food labs comes when government statistics indicate that 70% of the adult population and 31% of children are obese. A report in Diario Libre indicates that 15 years ago, only 25% of the adult population was obese.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nuevo Diario
Inabie
Diario Libre
1 March 2023