NFA builds public kitchen to serve quake victims balanced meals

Hence, this (the food assistance) will be freshly made every day and the menu will always constantly change.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Food Agency (NFA) and the local government have established a public kitchen that will make 18 thousand diverse, nutritionally balanced, and safe meal servings for the Cianjur earthquake victims for the next 6 days.

"We will prepare around 3 thousand packages a day for the next 6 days," NFA head Arief Prasetyo Adi said at the Cibereum village evacuation site, Cianjur district, West Java province, on Tuesday.

The ingredients for the meals prepared at the public kitchen will be sent by the NFA and other strategic partners, he informed.

Each meal serving will have balanced nutrition and consist of carbohydrates, vegetables, animal-based protein, plant-based protein, and fruit, which will be processed into juice.

"Thus, (while helping the refugees) we are also educating (them) that a healthy meal is a balanced meal. There must be a staple food, such as rice; then fiber, for instance, vegetables; next animal-based protein, such as chicken; and plant-based protein, for example, tempeh," the NFA head noted.

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Through this effort, it is expected that the residents affected by the Cianjur quake will get nutritious food while living in shelters.

"Hopefully, it (the freshly cooked meal) can make our brothers and sisters (the affected residents) here not bored. (If they get) fast food (everyday, they) might get bored. Hence, this (the food assistance) will be freshly made every day and the menu will always constantly change,” Adi said.

The ingredients sent by NFA and other partners will be processed by the local residents themselves, he added.

He said he believes that the cooking activity will relieve the stress of the refugees and help them to move on from their grief.

NFA has also disbursed a number of assistances from its strategic partners, such as rice, eggs, and fruits.

The assistance has included 2,330 aid packages containing rice, cooking oil, milk, corned beef, and sardines.

Furthermore, the Dharma Wanita Persatuan (DWP) – an organization of civil servants’ wives -- has donated 18 thousand bottles of juice.
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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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