Petrina Pakoe, director of the Peninsula School Feeding Association, explains that to stretch resources feeding programmes typically target only those children that most need the meals.
“While this is entirely logical from a resource management perspective, the problem is children who accept the meals get stigmatised. When this happens, some children would rather go hungry than be teased and this makes the feeding programme less effective.”
In collaboration with long-time donor, Oceana, the Peninsula School Feeding Association thinks it might have come up with a solution which it is piloting at HP Williams Primary School in St Helena Bay. Many of the learners’ parents work at Oceana’s Lucky Star facility across the road.
Oceana has provided the school with a fully equipped containerised kitchen. It will not only provide meals for those children who need them, but nutritious and appetising lunches for all 502 learners at the school.
“By extending the programme to everyone and ensuring the meals are delicious, we hope to eliminate any real or perceived stigma associated with accepting a school lunch. Feedback from the trials indicate that this ‘feeding with dignity’ approach is working,” Neville Brink, Oceana CEO explained at the project’s launch.
As well as the kitchen, decorated with cartoons depicting familiar scenes of fishers going to sea, Oceana has also provided a spacious dining area. This allows the children to enjoy their meals at tables, rather than have to sit on the ground. In addition to being more hygienic, it also makes the feeding programme easier to supervise.
To ensure the meals are as healthy and tasty as possible, Oceana has brought in a chef from another community project it supports, the Yes Hub. As well as designing the menus he has trained local, unemployed women to cook the meals. The food preparation and hygiene training they receive is accredited.
“The kitchen and dining facilities are just the visible parts of the project, but what’s important is the positive impact we hope these will have,” Brink explained.
“Providing food to everyone and not singling out just those who wouldn’t otherwise get lunch, makes the feeding programme more effective. We know you can’t teach a hungry child, so it should also improve the school’s education outcomes. At the same time, it enables previously unemployed people to gain accredited training, skills and experience. Most importantly the programme can be replicated and, if it works, it’s our intention to do just that in other fishing communities.”
