P Srinivasan I [email protected]
For the first time in the country, such a large number of 37 government residential schools in Rajasthan have got the Eat Right School certificate from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). These schools have got this certificate as they have fulfilled all standards of high quality, hygienic and nutritious food.
According to FSSAI, the Eat Right School programme aims at creating awareness about food safety, nutrition & hygiene among school children, and through them among the community at large. Children are powerful change agents. Messages delivered to, and through children, have the potential to usher in behavioural change and a culture of safe and wholesome food. Since food habits are developed early in life, adequate coverage of food and nutrition both in curriculum and extracurricular activities at the school level is essential.
Officers of the Commissionerate of Food Safety and Drug Control first identified the schools with the help of the Education department. Then training programmes were organised for capacity building of the educational staff, cooking staff and students of the schools. The participants in the training were informed about how to serve hygienically, how to eat and how to store from the raw green vegetables to cooked food.
Food Safety tests were conducted to make the students and school staff aware. Painting competitions were organised among students on the food safety topic and even programmes were organised to administer pledges, the official informed.
Realizing how susceptible students are to wrong eating influences due to their lack of awareness, and also taking into account the fact that at a young age they are open to experimenting with food, FSSAI, under the Eat Right School vision has been working extensively to create awareness about ‘Eating Healthy’, ‘Eating Safe’, and ‘Eating Sustainable’ among school children, and through them, among the community at large.
The Eat Right School program, launched by FSSAI in September 2016, promotes a culture of food safety and nutrition. It is based on the Eat Right Matrix and is run through the school’s health and wellness ambassadors and teams.
The Food Safety Magic Box comprises 102 simple tests to check food adulteration along with the Magic Box Companion Guidebook designed to provide the right information for schools and homes.
Food Safety Guidebook for Teachers to further facilitate the usage of the Food Safety Magic Box, grade-wise lesson plan booklets has been developed for the teachers.
Mascots ‘Miss Sehat’ and ‘Master Sehat’, which children can relate to, have been used extensively in the training content and a mascot activation program in malls, schools and other public places is on the anvil. Master and Miss Sehat engage and educate children to promote social and behavioural change around food safety, hygiene and healthy diets in a fun, educative manner and are a huge hit.
Schools that got the status of Eat Right School include Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential School at Nachna (Jaisalmer), Moongra (Barmer), Neethar (Bharatpur), Bhinmal (Jalore), Kuchaman (Nagaur), Needach (Rajsamand), Nandishama (Udaipur), Bouraj (Jaipur), Khairtali (Pali), Tibbi (Hanumangarh), Dausa, Bauli (Sawai Madhopur), Todaraisingh (Tonk), Gharsana (Sriganganagar), Pogal (Bikaner), Jawal (Sirohi), Dungarpur, Rajgarh (Churu), Mandad (Sirohi), Hasai (Dholpur), Ajmer, Shahbad (Baran), Chaksu (Jaipur) and Chaumala (Jhalawar); Mahatma Gandhi Government School at Khairoda (Udaipur) and Charbhuja (Rajsamand); Government Senior Secondary School at Baskripal Nagar (Alwar), Rajpurbaa (Alwar), Barnala (Sawai Madhopur), Nahargarh (Chittorgarh) and Anuppura Jalsu (Jaipur) and Government Girls Higher Secondary School at Jaitaran (Pali), Brahmanon ki Sariri in Asind (Bhilwara), Jayal (Nagaur), Narolidang (Karauli), Maulasar (Nagaur) and Khodvada in Itava (Kota).
