The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program has once again drawn public attention following various complaints from parents in the Special Region of Yogyakarta about the quality of the meals their children received during Ramadan. Several reports indicate that meal packages distributed in some schools were dominated by bread, which parents considered inadequate as the primary source of students’ nutrition.
These criticisms prompted the Regional Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta to evaluate the program’s implementation in the field. The Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, asked the program’s responsible parties to respond to public complaints about the quality of food provided to students.
The regional government also emphasized the importance of transparency in food provision, including requiring that each MBG package include information on nutritional content and a detailed breakdown of the costs of food components. This step is expected to provide the public with a clearer understanding of the value of the food packages students receive while ensuring that the quality of the food aligns with the allocated budget.
Responding to these developments, a food technology expert from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Professor Sri Raharjo, stated that the MBG program fundamentally has a very positive objective, as it aims to improve the nutritional intake of school-age children. He explained that, in general, the idea of providing nutritious meals for students has gained broad support from various groups, particularly because nutritional needs during the growth period play a crucial role in children’s health development and learning capacity.
However, Professor Sri emphasized that the success of such a program depends not only on good intentions but also on careful policy planning, ranging from budget allocation and the formulation of nutritional standards to implementation mechanisms in the field. Without well-structured planning, programs with positive goals may face various challenges during implementation.
“If the goal is to improve the nutrition of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students, of course, everyone agrees. But the issue is whether the plan has been properly designed, including the pricing set by the central government,” he said on Friday (Mar. 13).
Professor Sri highlighted one important aspect that requires attention in implementing the MBG program: the uniform pricing of meal packages across Indonesia. Currently, MBG meal packages are priced at around Rp10,000 to Rp15,000 per portion. According to him, applying the same price policy nationwide requires deeper consideration, particularly given differences in students’ nutritional needs across education levels.
“The energy requirements of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students are not the same, so menu planning must take these differences into account,” he explained.
He also examined the program’s implementation system, which involves multiple parties across the food distribution chain. In the current scheme, the central government, through the National Nutrition Agency, collaborates with several foundations that then channel the program to schools through Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG). Through this mechanism, the appointed foundations work with kitchen operators to produce meals before they are distributed to students at schools.
According to Professor Sri, this system makes the quality of food students receive highly dependent on the capabilities of those managing the production kitchens. Processing food in large quantities requires experience, technical skills, and sound production management to consistently maintain food quality.
“Kitchens staffed by individuals with prior work experience can usually maintain food quality. However, if the managers are not yet trained to handle large-scale production, the risks to food safety and nutritional value can be higher,” he explained.
Beyond kitchen management issues, Professor Sri also emphasized the importance of ensuring that each meal package truly meets students’ energy needs. He explained that calorie requirements for a single meal vary across education levels. On average, elementary school students require about 450 calories, junior high school students about 550 calories, and senior high school students approximately 650 to 700 calories per meal.
“These energy needs must be met through a balanced nutritional composition consisting of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the right proportions,” he said.
He added that menu planning must consider these components to ensure that students’ energy requirements are met. Ideally, MBG menus should include carbohydrate sources such as rice, protein sources from both plant and animal origins, and vegetables and fruits as complementary nutrients.
“If one meal must provide around 500 calories, the composition must include sufficient carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Yet the cost of a single package must also cover rice, a protein side dish, vegetables, and fruit,” he noted.
Nevertheless, Professor Sri explained that animal-based protein sources such as eggs, chicken, or fish are generally more expensive than plant-based proteins. Therefore, menu planning must be carried out carefully so that students’ nutritional needs are still met despite limited budgets.
He also examined the change in menu format during the month of Ramadan. During this period, meals prepared in the morning or afternoon are usually consumed by students later at the time of breaking the fast. This situation requires that the selected food types be evaluated for shelf life and food safety. According to Professor Sri, food prepared under such conditions must be designed to remain safe for consumption several hours after cooking.
“Because the food is cooked in the morning or afternoon but eaten in the evening, the menu must consist of foods that remain relatively safe until iftar, usually in the form of drier preparations and whole fruits,” he said.
However, he estimated that such changes in menu format could also affect the nutritional content students receive. In some cases, simplified menus designed to accommodate distribution conditions may result in less optimal calorie and nutrient composition. According to Professor Sri, this could be one reason for complaints from parents who believe that the food packages their children receive do not adequately meet their children’s nutritional needs.
Therefore, he emphasized the importance of continuous evaluation of the MBG program to ensure that its primary goal, improving the nutritional quality of Indonesian children, can be achieved optimally. As part of the evaluation, Professor Sri also noted that the mechanism of food provision through large-scale production kitchens still presents several challenges, particularly in monitoring food quality and safety. Producing food in very large quantities every day requires strict kitchen management and experienced workers to maintain consistent quality.
He suggested that another approach could be considered to make the program’s implementation more manageable: using school canteens as the basis for providing meals to students.
“First, the MBG program should ideally be based on school canteens. The Rp10,000 budget could still be maintained, while minimum nutritional standards are expected to be met,” he said.
Professor Sri viewed this system as allowing food to be prepared directly within the school environment, making production and distribution processes simpler and easier to supervise because the number of kitchen staff would be smaller.
“It still requires workers, but not as many as SPPG kitchens that must cook in extremely large quantities,” he said.
In addition, he believes food safety could be better maintained because the meals are produced and distributed in the same location.
“If the food is prepared and distributed at school, the risks can be smaller and everything becomes more manageable,” he concluded.
Author: Zabrina Kumara
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Jasmine Ferdian
Photo: Bengkalis Health Office