Jepara Pilots Buffet-Style Free Nutritious Meals Programme

Jepara (ANTARA) – The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme is being introduced in a buffet-style format in Jepara Regency, Central Java, initially targeting nine schools. A trial began at one school on Thursday.

“Of the nine schools planned as targets, the trial has so far been conducted only at Kanisius Kauman Jepara Elementary School. Together with the team, we are also monitoring the programme to ensure the new serving method is working well and meets standards for nutrition, hygiene and food safety,” Jepara Deputy Regent Muhammad Ibnu Hajar said during a monitoring visit to the school on Thursday.

The deputy regent was accompanied by relevant officials, including the Jepara regional secretary’s first assistant, the expert staff member for community affairs and human resources, representatives of the Communications and Informatics Office and Health Office, the Economic Affairs Division, the Jepara sub-district head and the sub-district MBG task force, as well as the Jepara coordinator for the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).

For this trial, the buffet service is limited to pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6. Pupils take food directly from the prepared buffet tables, while observing hygiene and order during service.

The meal includes rice, side dishes, vegetables and fruit. Food is served using prepared containers and serving utensils, while staff and pupils involved in the service wear protective equipment such as head coverings, masks and gloves.

The trial had already been under way for four days. Monitoring is intended to observe how it works in practice and identify matters that need further evaluation before the buffet format is introduced more widely.

Ibnu Hajar said the trial was important to ensure that the buffet-style MBG programme could operate effectively and suit the conditions at each educational institution.

He said that, alongside ensuring adequate nutrition, attention must also be paid to hygiene, food safety and order, as well as pupils’ ability to take an appropriate amount of food.

He added that the monitoring and evaluation results from the pilot school would inform improvements before a similar approach is introduced at other schools.