Moses Emorinken, Abuja
In its bid to ensure that children understand the basic tips and tricks to making healthy and wholesome meals, Nestlé Nigeria has partnered the Association of Professional Chefs of Nigeria, on a cooking workshop for pupils of selected public secondary schools in the FCT.
The event which took place on Thursday in Abaji area of the FCT, was in commemoration of the International Chefs Day with theme: ‘How healthy food works’. It draws attention to the overwhelming benefits of healthy feeding, especially among children.
According to the Category Manager, Nestle professional, Mrs. Amaka Nwokorie, “We are partnering with the chefs on healthier cooking, healthier feeding, and we believe in healthier kids.
“Nestle is the world’s number one nutrition, health and wellness company; we don’t just provide and produce food, we produce nutritious and healthy foods.
“What better way to start teaching about healthier eating than with the kids who are the leaders of tomorrow. We are partnering with the chefs to bring in schools, children between primary five to six to teach them about healthy feeding and eating right.
“Today, we are talking about vegetables, fruits, rice, noodles, and pasta, which has become a very important part of our diet. Obesity and underfeeding are the main problems of the world today. Obesity is a major problem is developed countries, while under nutrition is a problem in underdeveloped countries. We are trying to find a balance.
“We are hoping they will go back to their schools and homes and become champions in the healthier feeding promotion of Nestle. We are working with ten schools that FCT SUBEB is in charge of. In each of the schools, the population is around 600 to 1,000 pupils. So we train a small portion and that awareness continues till everyone is conscious”.
According to the Deputy Director of School Health, FCT Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alh. Baba Aboki, “The board has been partnering with Nestle in terms of training of our children at the primary five level. We only selected 10 pilot school from the FCT. Nestle has also been involved in training our teachers from the ten school plus the head teachers. Also the SUBEB desk officers.
“They have also renovated a block of two classrooms, eight toilets, and constructed playground for nursery in neighbouring schools, and have drilled a borehole for the school and community”.
According to the Developmental Chef and Culinary Expert of Nestle Nigeria, Punshak Mark, “This is the fourth year that the Association of professional chefs is partnering with Nestle professional in the celebration of World Chef Day.
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“We have seen a need to be able to speak to the younger generation about nutrition and wellness. The Nestle kids platform is a very big platform, so we decided to lash upon it so that we can talk to kids about simple basic tips and tricks on how to deliver simple nutrition and cooking processes.
“We also teach them to be able to use the available ingredient to get the required nutrients to be able to deliver a balanced meal”.
For the Director of the Association of Professional Chefs of Nigeria FCT chapter, Chef Godfrey Mario, “This event will go a long way to inculcate in the children the healthy essence of domestic cooking and personal hygiene. It also exposes them on how to appropriately purchase food items, and to be creative in playing with varieties when it comes to cooking. This way, they get balanced meal and diet that will help to reduce malnutrition in the society”.
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