STARTING Nov. 15, 2023, all kindergarten to Grade 12 students in public schools in Cebu Province will receive free rice porridge from Monday to Friday, as announced by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
This initiative is part of the upcoming launch of the province-wide supplementary feeding program in Cebu, aiming to provide porridge meals to over 878,000 public school students enrolled in more than 1,400 schools.
On Wednesday, Governor Garcia met with the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) officers and all provincial and city school superintendents to finalize the program’s launch, which she had announced earlier during a meeting with the mayors on Oct. 25.
The Cebu provincial government’s supplemental school feeding program will kick off at Tabogon Central School in the town of Tabogon, northern Cebu, at 10 a.m. on Nov. 15.
Simultaneous launches will take place in other public schools across the province on the same day.
Under the feeding program, PTAs will cook and distribute rice porridge to students. Garcia urged the PTAs to ensure the food is nutritious and safe.
The vegetables, meat and other ingredients for the porridge meals will be sourced from the gardens of the Sugbusog campaign of each school and municipality and the native-chicken farm-raising program of the province.
Sugbusog, another flagship program initiated by Garcia, was first launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to enhance food production by promoting community gardening in the countryside.
During the meeting, Maria Fe Evasco, director of the National Food Authority in Central Visayas (NFA 7), assured Garcia that there would be a sufficient supply of rice grains for the program throughout the school year.
The Cebu Provincial Government has also provided additional materials for the program, including cauldrons, bowls and utensils.
On Oct. 25, Garcia said 534 sacks of rice per day are needed to feed all pupils and students under the school feeding program across the province, derived from the 35 servings of rice porridge from a kilo of cooked rice.
A sack of rice weighs 50 kilos. The province will source the rice from the NFA 7.
The LGUs will then collect these sacks of rice from the provincial government warehouses, and distribute them to the school district offices.
“All, walay ilahi, mapa severely wasted ba? Ang ato ra kay katung hungry og severely hungry. Pakan-on nato ang tanan gikan sa kindergarten kutob na senior high,” said Garcia.
(All. No one will excluded, even those severely wasted. We aim to provide food for those hungry, ranging from kindergarten to senior high students.)