Academics: Public Must Actively Monitor Free Nutritious Meals Programme
Jakarta – A lecturer in communication studies at Esa Unggul University, Syurya M. Nur, has assessed that the public needs to be actively involved in monitoring the Free Nutritious Meals Programme (MBG), particularly to prevent food safety incidents from occurring.
“All stakeholders must be engaged. The community, parents, and schools should be given authority to help monitor partners of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG),” he said during a podcast alongside the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) in Jakarta on Monday.
“Strengthening field supervision is a crucial factor in ensuring the success of the MBG programme, because not all SPPG partners have the same commitment, so foundation verification and supervision must be conducted rigorously,” he noted.
Syurya acknowledged that some SPPG units are managed well and genuinely focus on improving child nutrition. However, he also found instances where partners failed to adhere to standard operating procedures, ranging from kitchen hygiene to the suitability of food processing locations.
“Therefore, community involvement in continuous monitoring is essential for the success of this programme,” he stated.
Syurya emphasised that the benefits of the MBG programme are not immediate, but will become apparent in the long term, approximately five to ten years ahead, when the generation whose nutrition has been adequately met grows into a healthier and more intelligent human resource.
“This programme is often perceived negatively because of unbalanced media framing, yet there are many positive aspects that need to be highlighted,” he explained.
Consequently, he encouraged the BGN to make greater use of social media and direct field engagement to build public trust.
According to him, government policy must be communicated consistently through news coverage, education and community participation.
“We have already seen in some regions that the MBG programme is eagerly anticipated by children, so government communication should focus more on the positive impacts generated by this programme,” Syurya said.