Gholly Antwi Bosiako, Western Regional Coordinator, GSFP
About 60 cooks of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) in the Western Region have received training on hygiene and nutritious methods of cooking in Takoradi.
They were also educated on basic nutrition, food safety, environmental and personal hygiene, kitchen hygiene, food storage and other healthy practices.
The training was organized in collaboration with the Regional Secretariat of the School Feeding Programme.
Speaking to journalists, Doris Yawa Gaba, Director of Operations at GSFP, mentioned that the programme was aimed at increasing school enrollment, reducing hunger and malnutrition and boosting domestic food production.
She noted that the sensitization training was aimed at ensuring that the caterers prepare hygienic and nutritious foods for the school-children to promote healthy growth.
Ms Gaba indicated that the full benefit of the school feeding would not be derived if the caterers provide unhygienic and non-nutritious foods to the pupils.
“We told the cooks that the food should contain proteins, carbohydrates, legumes and leafy vegetables,” she added.
Ms Gaba pointed out that the kitchens must also be kept cleans by the caterers.
She indicated that in order to make the programme very effective, a monitoring team has been put in place to collaborate with the district and regional offices of the programme to supervise the activities of the caterers.
She revealed that all the teething problems that initially bedeviled the programme were being addressed and added that steps were being taken to help improve the programme.
The Western Regional Coordinator of the Programme, Gholly Antwi Bosiako, explained that those being trained form part of the additional 30 percent of caterers government has instructed to be recruited.
She noted that the caterers were advised not to wear artificial nails when preparing meals for the children.
“We also called for the use of only local rice and other diets, and asked them to wear neat aprons to cover their hair. They are not supposed to use any spices. They are to use plastic spoons only,” she added.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi