- January 2012 -
Nutrition Program’s 3rd Year Creates a Delicious Difference
The FRESH Philippines program of Kraft Foods Philippines (KFP) and Save the Children released its 3rd year implementation results. Started in 2009, the program has since provided more than 40,000 children with nutrition improvement assistance and 1,500 families with livelihood opportunities.
FRESH is Future Resilience and Stronger Households Philippines. It aims to create a delicious difference among targeted children, families and communities in Parañaque City, Metro Manila; San Remigio, Antique; and Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. It is a project that addresses the problems of today and helps make a difference for tomorrow.
FRESH Philippines provides immediate relief to hunger and malnutrition through feeding programs while imparting the necessity of good nutrition via educational seminars. Moving beyond the norm of intervention programs, FRESH Philippines helps families secure their own sources of food through vegetable gardens and livelihood opportunities. All of this the program is able to achieve by encouraging support from the community and local government units.
Hunger Happens Everyday
While most people these days are trying to lose ‘holiday weight,’ hunger is a problem present all-year long, and has been so for many years. According to the 2008 National Nutrition Survey, 1 out of 10 children experiences hunger but doesn’t eat because there is no food or money to buy some. 1 in 10 translates to millions of children who experience involuntary hunger on a regular basis.
This survey from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) stated that 5 out of 10 mothers felt their children were not eating well enough. This is in terms of the quantity and nutritional quality of food.
Tools against Future Hunger
Reversing this trend takes more than providing food for a handful of days. As FRESH Philippines’ programs aim to do, fighting hunger means equipping families with opportunities to provide food for their selves.
True to its name, FRESH Philippines provides nutritious food for children in Grades 1-3. For the past three years, 23,118 children have been included in this feeding program. To create accountability within the community, parents participate by preparing and serving the food.
Jhemelyn is a Grade 3 student and a beneficiary of the supplemental feeding program in Parañaque. When there is no scheduled feeding and she does not have any allowance, Jhemelyn just sits inside the classroom and waits until recess ends. She admits to looking forward to the feeding because they are served hot macaroni soup and champorado. She is thankful for the feeding in school and says, “The food is delicious. I don’t get hungry while in my class.”
There’s hunger, then there’s malnutrition. Under FRESH Philippines is the Positive Deviance/Hearth program under which 125 of 229 identified children have been saved from the threat of severe malnutrition.
To increase household purchasing power and thereby access to food, 531 families have been included in income-generating activities (IGAs). These are focused on enhancing existing IGAs like commercial food production and making cultural products. Livelihood processing centers and community stores help the families sell these wares.
Having food that’s available right at their doorstep is the goal of the home, community and school gardens. To date, 1,501 families have established household or community food gardens.
Knowing is Half the Battle
Material tools against hunger are supplemented with knowledge on combating malnutrition. For this purpose, FRESH Philippines has reached 21,502 children with health, nutrition and hygiene promotion messages that seek to change behavior. 46,951 children were given a fresh lease on health through de-worming treatments and micronutrient supplements.
Like most deeply-rooted problems, hunger cannot be solved in a day. However, FRESH Philippines hopes that if the values of good nutrition and self-reliance on food production are promoted, there will be less days of hunger for children and families.