May 16th 2011 - There is no greater gift in life than that of consistent robust good health. Of course we need loving relationships, friends, interests, ambitions, but these are harder to maintain and enjoy if we feel unwell. As I said in ‘Nutrition Matters Most’, ‘The School Meals Programme (SMP) is not just the building and equipping of a kitchen. The SMP is the first stage in a food revolution. That revolution is required if Nevis is to break out of its present fast food track to all the non-communicable diseases. If this does not happen then present and future generations are stuck with an ever increasing incidence of diabetes, amputations, obesity, cancers, high blood pressure, etc.. …Medical statisticians in the US calculate that one in three Americans born in 2000 will have diabetes in their lifetime. This is where we are going. The SMP is the first major battleground where we can attempt to reverse this fate, if we get it right and follow through on it. Much thought commitment and an action plan is imperative…’
Further isolation within those statistics reveals the calculation that not one in three, but one in two Hispanics and Blacks born in 2000 will have diabetes in their lifetime. To some extent this risk is voluntary. Eat healthily and cut the risk. Eat unhealthily, existing on American processed food and drink, and accept the risk.
I believe that in general it is better to air one’s concerns about a public service in public, rather than trust that civil servants will after a private meeting, find them sufficiently appealing for action. That is why this article will give an out line for the required follow up action by the Ministry (of Education). Although Earlene Maynard, the Director of School Meals and I keep in touch, no one from the Ministry has commented on ‘Nutrition Matters Most’. However I did have a letter, signed ‘Anonymous’ (Anon) which read:
‘…Congratulations re your involvement in the School Meals Program. You mentioned that you had hand delivered the SMP proposal to the appropriate Ministry and had not received an acknowledgement that it had been received. Other individuals – including me – have also hand delivered items to various Ministries without acknowledgement. This lack of professional courtesy applies to both the previous and current NIA and demands solutions.
The NIA cannot operate a professionally managed SMP because of Government bureaucracy, cronyism, ineptitude etc. It should be contracted to an experienced private entity that can provide dependable service. This is the policy utilised by the school system in the USA,
Best wishes for success with the SMP!!’
The first claim does not need comment, except to say that it is a sad state of affairs, which could be rectified if the politicians so decreed. I cannot say and nor does Anon how widespread the practise is.
I take issue with Anon’s second point. We do not have ‘an experienced private entity’ that can provide a dependable school meals service. Going private has its problems. To maximise profits, the goal of ‘private’, the tendency is to cut costs and use the cheapest ingredients. Because sugar, corn, wheat and soy and therefore industrially reared beef and chicken are, in the US, heavily subsidised, they are the cheapest items. If you want to see how this works in the USA, Google ‘School Meals in USA’ and look at Item 3 ‘Izismile.com School Meals from around the world. 30 pics…’ Fourteen pictures are of US school meals. Surely we can do better than this. It all looks so unappetising. Some of it I would hesitate to give to my hens.
In the UK the 1988 Local government Act obliged Local Authorities to put school meal contracts out to tender, and without any minimum nutritional standards this was a race to the bottom. The cheapest convenience foods and ‘muck off a truck’ started replacing wholesome meals that required time, skill and labour. Improvements came when schools took back the provision of lunches themselves. Here is one headmaster, ‘ You have to involve the children and tell them why you are changing the content of the lunches and you have to integrate good food into the curriculum.The staff never used to eat with the children – now they do – and every Friday parents can come and eat a good organic meal with them too. Children who are hungry or eating highly unsuitable things are bound to behave badly’.
I understand Anon’s strictures about bureaucracy, cronyism and ineptitude. Because of, or regardless of that, the meals for a particular school should work best if that school’s head sees the importance and is him/herself, together with the head chef, in charge. So from the general to the particular, the Charlestown Primary School, and my hopes for it.
The building of the kitchen and its cafeteria is nearly finished. It is still missing a ramp to the goods’ door, and it has no equipment. This latter will be ordered as soon as a particular final design has been agreed. The Administration should note that the kitchen equipment provided by myself and other donors goes as far as production of food on to dishes, bowls, cups, glasses, cutlery etc. provided by the Administration. Tables, chairs, benches, water jugs, water fountains and furniture for the head chef’s office are for the Administration. That chef will need a proper office with computer, telephone and intercom.
However optimistic and enthusiastic anyone may be about the future production of this kitchen, it will depend upon the character, experience and competence of the person appointed as head chef, and to a lesser extent upon his/her deputy or sous chef. The function of this kitchen is to produce healthy palatable meals for as many children and teachers as wish to partake. There is no compromise about this. Nutritional quality dictates that whole grains ie home baked whole wheat bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pastas are always used and should not be substituted, and that fresh local produce, fish and meat be used at all times. You have to start as you intend to continue. If this means that, say, only 80 lunches can be produced to the required quality on day one, then that is how it will have to be until personnel and systems can manage more. We want a slick operation, and that will come with practise.
It is the Ministry’s responsibility to find that perfect head chef and deputy, and with him (or her) choose the staff, on merit only, and again co-ordinating with him/her set up some structure for maintenance of the kitchen equipment. Support of the School Principal is critical but so is that of teachers and parents. The PTA should have a food committee, with regular access to the chef and the Director of School Meals Programme. So back to the perfect head chef. Since the Job involves the production and service of up to, say, 350 healthful, palatable lunches within a limited time, our chef must have had relevant high volume experience. He has to be good with people, and be able to teach, as he will train his staff, give lessons to pupils and give refresher courses to other schools’ cooks. We need him to be truly enthusiastic about the importance of the work and full of confidence in his and his staffs’ ability to carry it out. He will be responsible for everything that goes into the kitchen and everything that comes out. This means that he will source all food ingredients. This is a brand new kitchen and he should keep it as he found it, in tip top order. He will not accept second best from anyone. He will be strong on hygiene and ensure that his daily sanitation schedule is fully adhered to. He will maintain good stock rotation throughout stores, fridges and freezers, having full scale weekly checks. He will arrange a deep clean of all areas termly. He will sit on the staff recruitment interview board. He will carry out the terms of all relevant statutory legislation especially relating to labour, and will keep all necessary written records.
In the early stages he will enlighten the parents about the nature and purpose of the meals programme, for which he will, with a good understanding of nutritional requirements, have designed the menus, in accordance with the available budget.
As time goes on the work of this kitchen will influence the diet, lifestyle and health of Nevisians. It will be famous in the Caribbean, another Nevis FIRST. That is my hope. This can happen if Nevis, Government and the community, wants it and works persistently, intelligently and passionately towards that goal. It is not up to James Gaskell, Hastings Daniel and Mark Roberts to make this kitchen work. That is for all those who work in it or who have children at the school. Government has an important role but it cannot do everything. Please prove Anon’s fears about cronyism and ineptitude baseless. Crime is a national emergency, so is the relentless trend towards ever greater numbers of diabetics and the other non-communicable diseases. Find that chef, now.
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