By Arlene Mitchell, Executive Director, Global Child Nutrition Foundation
Is any investment we make as important as investing in children? When we invest in children, we are investing in agriculture, in education, in strong economies, and in safe communities. And support for school meals is a proven way to maximize returns on this most precious asset. In other words, we are investing in a sound future.
Currently, 368 million children—1 in 5—are fed daily when they are at school. Evidence shows that school meals are an effective tool to draw more children into school, provide them with the nutrition they need to concentrate, and build local jobs and economies that allow families to thrive. School feeding and school meal programs are present in almost every country, functioning as one of the largest safety nets in the world.
In my work, I’ve seen the benefits of investing in school meals first-hand. There are a few stirring images and quotes that have stuck with me over the years and keep me focused on my work in support of nutritious, sustainable, national school meal programs around the world. One of the most powerful vignettes is a visual and voice clip of a little Tanzanian boy, probably about 8 years old. Each morning at school he was getting a cup of porridge made of a corn-soy flour blend donated by the US Government and delivered to his school by the UN World Food Programme. The program included a handwashing regimen the kids were to follow before eating. He was asked by the video team if he’s ever been hungry. With all the intensity he could muster and not a shred of hesitation, he replied that hunger “is a fire in my belly that hurts so much that I have to run to school. I can’t even wash my hands before I eat—I have to put the fire out!”
Evidence from around the world on locally-sourced school meals reveals a multiple-win opportunity for policymakers with important benefits for school achievement, employment, and income later in life leading to overall national economic growth. I went to Japan several years ago to see their school meal program. Outside the schools, people I met who learned I worked with school meals invariably responded in one of two ways: “You can tell I didn’t get school meals because I am four inches shorter than my children,” the older folks said. “You can tell I got school meals because I am taller than my parents,” younger adults said. After the war, the US Government and UNICEF provided school milk in Japan and the impact on growth was stunning (apparently because of the lack of calcium). Parents were so profoundly aware of the benefits of school meals that when the United States and UNICEF announced that their programs would end, parental pressure resulted in the enactment of the national school meal requirement in 1954. The Japanese government recognized that school feeding was an investment in the future of their children and, to this day, continue to see the benefits of their investment.
What I saw in Japan was extremely impressive: As children entered school each day, the basics of their school meal were posted for all to see, complete with a simple description of what each of the main meal components does for the body. In the lunchroom, children (properly equipped with aprons and hair-covering hats) served other children, and all the children were schooled in the protocol of serving and receiving. There had been an E-Coli outbreak a couple of years before, and the kitchens were meticulously clean, with a strict protocol for food handling.
As was the case for the young boy in Tanzania, for many children in vulnerable communities, a school meal is the only nutritious meal they receive throughout the day. Many of these vital meals are served with the support of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. This crucial USDA program provides funding and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, including the World Food Programme, in order to support education, child development, and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries. There are active McGovern-Dole programs in 23 countries at this time.
School meal programs are a solid investment in prosperous, stable, and, ultimately, safer communities, countries, and world. International child nutrition programs have received strong bi-partisan support for 70 years in the United States. This is not the time to change course, just as the United Nations has declared that 20 million people are on the brink of starvation in four countries: South Sudan (where famine has been declared), Northern Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen. Many of these are children. In fact, the UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien reported in March that an estimated 1 million children in the Horn of Africa are acutely malnourished. Children are among the most vulnerable to the ravaging effects of hunger and even if they survive crippling hunger, will greatly struggle to recover from being severely malnourished.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. References to specific non-profit, private, or government entities are not an endorsement.