Midday meal contest: Now, kids may get to judge food given to them at schools

In an initiative to make midday meals more attractive to children, the department of public instruction is organising a mid-day meal competition for over one lakh midday meal workers at the taluk, district and state-level.

In Karnataka, there are about 40,000 government schools where midday meals are supplied on a daily basis. 1.17 lakh workers cook and distribute these meals.

In this competition, cooks will have to prepare midday meals, without changing the guidelines that prioritises adequate intake of protein and other nutrients. They can either prepare different dishes or make changes in the existing ones.

The Union government has approved of these dishes being changed for the competition. They had earlier decided that a senior official from the department of public instruction would be the judge. Now they have plans of including children, who are the real beneficiaries.

Experts and nutritionists will taste the food and also check if the nutrients meet the required guidelines.

Apart from this, the government is planning to introduce nutrition gardens in every government school. Greens grown here can be used for the midday meals. Presently some 8,000 government schools have this garden at their premises.