In three years an initiative to make school feeding more impactful has expanded from a pilot project to provide meals to all the children at four West Coast schools.
First trialled at HP Williams Primary School in St Helena Bay, the project now includes Masiphathisane Primary School and Louwville High School in Vredenberg. The latest participant is E.J. Malgarte Primary School, in St Helena Bay and the oldest school in the region.
Its genesis was the realisation that only feeding those children who most needed school meals resulted in them being stigmatised. The solution was to provide a healthy, nutritious, appetising meal in a dignified environment.
Making this a reality meant putting in place the resources and know-how to deliver meals to the 1 253 learners at the four schools.
Working with long-time partner, the Peninsula School Feeding Organisation, Breadline Africa and the Westen Cape Department of Education, the Oceana Group has provided three of the schools with fully equipped, prefabricated kitchens. Masiphathisane had a kitchen but this was in poor condition so it was replaced with a brand new one.
“Feedback from the initial trial indicated that the ‘feeding with dignity’ approach worked, eliminating any real or perceived stigma associated with accepting a school lunch. That’s why we decided to expand the project,” explains Neville Brink, Oceana’s CEO.
Oceana which owns the iconic Lucky Star brand has three factories on the West Coast and is a significant employer in the area. In addition to the kitchens, it donated some R737 000 annually to ensure the first three kitchens were able to provide the meals required.
As well as the kitchens, decorated with cartoons depicting familiar scenes of fishers going to sea Oceana has built shaded dining areas. These allow the children to enjoy their meals in dedicated, hygienic areas. It also makes the feeding programme easier to supervise. Plates, cups and utensils are also provided.
To ensure the meals are as healthy and tasty as possible a consulting chef helps design the menus and train local, unemployed women to cook the meals. The food preparation and hygiene training they receive is accredited.
“The kitchens and dining facilities are just the visible parts of the project. What’s important is the far-reaching, positive impact these have,” Brink explained at the launch of the E.J. Malgarte kitchen.
“Providing food to everyone and not singling out only those who wouldn’t otherwise get lunch makes the feeding programme more effective. We know you can’t teach a hungry child, so it also improves the school’s educational outcomes. It also enables previously unemployed people to get accredited training, skills and experience. Importantly it’s now a tried-and-tested model that can be replicated.”
