One of them was the Red and White Cabinet retreat at the Military Academy (Akmil), Magelang City, Central Java, from October 24–27.
During the retreat, Prabowo emphasized his commitment to the Free Nutritious Meals program though the first 100-day working period of this government had just begun.
Free Nutritious Meals is one of the eight Quick Win programs of Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, aimed at supporting the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision.
On October 26, on the sidelines of the retreat, Prabowo rode a golf cart with Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Head Dadan Hindayana, and National Development Planning (Bappenas) Minister Rachmat Pambudy to inspect a nearby Nutritious Meal Service Unit.
After the President's visit, head manager of the Magelang City Nutritious Meal Service Unit, Fahmi Idris, said that Prabowo approved one of the prototypes for the program.
Meanwhile, BGN Head Hindayana informed that the president asked him to implement the program as well as possible.
At the Magelang service unit, the President inspected the buildings used to support the program, such as the kitchen used to cook healthy meals. He also reviewed the work system and business model of the unit.
The walls of the service unit displayed information on the nutritional content of the meals, for instance, one menu with white rice, carrot slices, tomatoes, chickpeas, processed chicken meat, and a milk box was shown to contain 28.05 grams of protein, 17.96 grams of fat, 98.17 grams of carbohydrates, and total energy of 629 kilocalories.
The president's direct visit was a form of his commitment to the program, which is targeted to cover more than 80 million people.
The seriousness of the Prabowo-Gibran government in carrying out the program over the next five years is evident from the fact that the program was also covered during the briefing sessions of the Cabinet retreat.
President Prabowo also emphasized his government's commitment to implementing the Free Nutritious Meals program at the first Plenary Cabinet Session on October 23 — three days after his inauguration.
He directed all ministries/agencies to act quickly to implement the program on target with measurable results.
"In my opinion, the nutritious meal for children and pregnant women is strategic, those who do not support this please quit the government that I lead. We must be in one team," he added.
To ensure the program's success, this commitment will have to continue to be maintained by the President, the Vice President, and the Red and White officials.
Program trial
According to Hindayana, at least 100 pilots of the program have been initiated across the country as of October 31, 2024. However, the majority of the trials are still concentrated in the island of Java.
The number of regions carrying out the trials is projected to increase. They are expected to adopt the system used in two places, namely Warungkiara Sub-district, Sukabumi District, and Bojong Koneng Village, West Java.
In addition, to support the program, a central kitchen could be built in each BGN service area, like the one in Magelang.
Such kitchens could also be built in schools and Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) with a minimum of two thousand students or to serve frontier, disadvantaged, and outermost (3T) areas.
Each central public kitchen built outside a school environment is expected to cover three thousand residents, including pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, toddlers, and schoolchildren from early childhood education up to the high school level.
Each kitchen will have 50 workers, including a professional holding at least a bachelor's in development affairs, a nutritionist, and a financial expert.
Food ingredients sent to remote and 3T areas will vary, and the vacuum storage method will be used to preserve the food for one year. The delivery of food ingredients will also pay attention to the travel time between the city/district center and the school.
The government is also committed to using local food raw materials, including milk.
For instance, if an area has high milk production, then one of the menus designed for the area will include milk. However, areas with low milk production will be given other protein alternatives based on availability.
The Free Nutritious Meal Program will begin in January 2025.
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Related news: Prabowo visits nutritious meal service unit in Magelang
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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