ROLE OF CENTRAL KITCHENS IN SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMME
That every primary school must have the infrastructure to run the school lunch programme is attractive and encouraging. Every school may not being a position to organise the programme, several hurdles hinder its smooth and successful implementation.
The major problems that school authorities face in the orga- nisation of the school lunch programme are financial adequacy, supervision of cooking and distribution, storage of provisions, purchases, transportation of provisions and lack of experience in account keeping and in regulating the nutrient content of the foods prepared. Quite frequently, the regularity of cooking is interrupted by irregular work and absenteeism of the cooking staff, inadequate cooking utensils, lack of kitchen facilities and the irregular mobilisation of the funds.
Under these circumstances, one solution to these problems appeared to be the centralisation of food preparation, that is, the establishment of large catering facilities, which centrally procure, store and prepare food for the ultimate use at several distribution points. The prepared food is distributed to the different schools through proper transportation agreements. With these considerations the government of Tamil Nadu has started the central kitchen movement, with the assistance of CARE.
Thus the central kitchens help to avoid most of the problems faced by the teachers in the individual schools. All that the teachers have to do is to collect the food that comes to the school and supervise its service at noon. Thus setting up of separate cooking establishments in each school has been avoided.
Central kitchens supply food for five days in a week. Now, central kitchens are functioning in the districts of Chengalpattu, South Arcot and North Arcot. The food cooked in the kitchens is transported to the surrounding schools, in as economical a manner as possible utilising bullock carts, cycles etc., and, where absolutely necessary motor vehicles. The 97 central kitchens in these districts, established with CARE assistance at a total cost of about Rs. 2 crores also receive CARE food as in the non-central
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kitchen areas. They serve four lakhs of pupils in these three dis- tricts. In central kitchen areas, the entire cost of the scheme is met from the Government funds and the local body contribution is credited to State Government funds. The cost of a meal is around 15 paise.
In some of the towns, the municipalities run central kitchens to avoid separate establishment in every school under its control. For example in Coimbatore town, a central kitchen is run by the municipality, which has been converted into a corporation. On three days soya fortified bulgar, and Balahar uppuma are prepared, and for the remaining days tomato rice, dhal rice or tamarind rice is prepared and the food is transported using lorries or tractors. Each vehicle makes two or more trips for the food supply to the schools allotted.
This system of organising the school meal programme through central kitchens however suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. In several places the food distribution is depending mainly on the functioning of motor vehicles. Vehicle breakdown is a perpetual problem faced by the schools.
2. For the cost of 15 paise/child/day, only one preparation is prepared and sent. This creates monotony and food dislikes among children. At the same time, if food is prepared in individual centres for the same cost, it is possible to provide a cereal item, a kootu, a beverage and perhaps a fruit. Hence the food supplied by the central kitchen is not always well balanced.
3. The food becomes too cold and or stale by the time the children are served the meals in some distant centres.
4. There is no component of nutrition education in this programme and
5. The likes and dislikes of the children are not taken into account.
If some modifications are introduced in the operation of the existing central kitchen organisation, the disadvantages could be overcome and the advantages increased and improved. Efforts should be made to operate the central kitchens on a smaller scale in the rural areas. These kitchens should cater to the needs of the primary schools within 5 to 7 km distance so that the transportation of food could be managed with the help of bullock carts. Efforts must be made to include one side dish and a fruit in the menu.
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The contributions of the school gardens and the Applied Nutrition Programme" (ANP) could be utilised for the midday meals. The suggestions of the school teachers should be checked and considered from time to time and incorporated for the improvement of the meals. If the food is prepared for about 10 schools in one centre and distributed to these schools the problem of kitchen facilities, procurement of foods from town, lack of utensils and irregularities of the funds could be overcome to a great extent. The time spent by the teachers in monitoring the programme without looking after the class in precious morning hours could also be prevented.
*ANP is a programme underwhich the production of animal foods, vegetables and fruits is promoted through poultry units, fisheries, home gardens, schools gardens community gardens etc. The produce from the school gardens and community gardens could be utilised for supplementing the school lunch.
Reference
1. Education Department, Progress of Education in Tamil Nadu. Government of Tamil Nadu. 1981, pp. 6-8.