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Accra, Ghana – Caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) have been warned not to take undue advantage of the ban placed on fishing activities by the Government to deny the children the right amount of protein in the food they prepare.
The Acting National Coordinator of the GSFP, Dr. Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah who issued the warning in an interview in Accra advised the caterers to consider soy as another form of protein that would enable them to prepare nutritious meal for the beneficiary pupils.
She said that the soy product such as the Textured Soy Product (TSP) which is made into chewable meat or chicken would serve as chicken or fish replacement, and provide the needed protein for the children and keep them healthy.
Already, the School Feeding caterers have been introduced to the use of Textured Soy Product, which is being produced by a locally based company called YEDENT. The Textured Soy Protein is a healthy high quality protein source that contains all essential amino acids needed for growth, and comes without fat and has no cholesterol and with little or no saturated fat.
The Acting National Coordinator of GSFP said the TSP for instance was more affordable and more convenient for the caterers to use, as compared to chicken or fish.
“One kilo of Textured Soy Protein sells at GhC20 or GhC25 and it can be used to cook for more than 100 children. So if you buy let say 10 kilos of the soy you can use it to cook for more than 1000 children. This means that those caterers with high number of children will highly benefit from using the TSP, and they can even mix it with eggs and vegetables to make it very nutritiously balanced; with any accompaniment like banku, rice, yam, plantain or eba”.
Dr. Mrs. Quashigah whose priority is to ensuring the children become the main focus of every activity of the School Feeding Programme, said that there is no room whatsoever for any caterer to compromise on the nutritional balance, quality and quantity of meal served to the pupils.
The Nutrition Specialist further advised the caterers to desist from using only tomatoes and onion stew all the time to serve the children, which practice she indicated is suicidal for the growth of the pupils.
By Savannahnewsonline.com/Philip Liebs
