A dimension within Forest Food & Child Meals
Highlights efforts to prevent child malnutrition through mid-day meals and ensuring access to healthy, secure food sources.
150 voices speak to this
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If ragi, millet, drumstick leaves, and jute leaves were included in the school midday meal, it would provide more nutritious food to children.
— Parsuram Sa · Sundargarh, Odisha
Including food items like mahua ladoo made from mahua found in our forests in the school's midday meal can provide nutritious food to children.
— Anjana Khadia · Subdega, Sundargarh, Odisha
Nutritious forest produce, such as millet, will be provided to children as part of their midday meals through the Public Distribution System.
— Padmini Bhoi
If forest-based foods like Mahua, Chironji, and Kendu were prepared and given to our school children in their Mid-Day Meal, it would be beneficial.
— Priti majhi
Including Mahula laddus made from Mahula found in our forests in school's midday meals can provide nutritious food to children.
— Anjana Khadia · Subdega, Sundargarh, Odisha
If the nutritious 'char laddoo' made from Mahua found in our forests is included in the school's mid-day meal, children will be nourished.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
It would be beneficial if forest fruits, roots, Char, Dumer, and Kuddu fruits are given to school children as part of the midday meals provided in schools. Whatever term applies.
— Parikshit Majhi · Balangir, Odisha
In the mid-day meal, our Anganwadi center should prepare and provide various items using kodo, ragi, and Guruji's food, so that children get their vitamins.
— Ulapi Sahu · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha
If leafy greens like Kuilesh saag, Mudi saag, and Munga saag are provided in the mid-day meal at school, students will be able to get some nutritious food.
— Parsuram Sa · Hemagiri, Sundargarh, Odisha
In addition to the lentil dish (dialunda) served to the children of our Anganwadi during midday meals, they should also be provided with our forest-based products, such as seasonal leafy greens.
— Parsuram Sa · Sundargarh, Odisha
Sir, what kind of nutritious food should the government provide us through PDS? And in schools, definitely in the midday meal, and millet, root vegetables, then forest produce, which are fruits, if these are definitely given to the students as encouragement, then the children's malnutrition can be eliminated.
— Dillip pujari · Phiringia, Kandhamal, Odisha
Including ladoos made from Mahua, a food found in our forests, in the school's mid-day meal will be nutritious for children.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
Amla, Ber, Mukaiya, and papaya in schools for providing more nutrition to children.
— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh
If we talk about the most nutritious food, if the government provides our forest products like Mahul, Char, and Kendu as food in MDM (Mid-Day Meal), then children will eat it and become intelligent.
— Priti majhi
In schools where midday meals are provided, if fodder from the forest is brought and made into laddus, nutritious food can be obtained.
— Parikshit Majhi
Forest produce fruits found in the forest like Kendu, Char, and Mahula contain abundant nutritious food. It would be good to include them in students' mid-day meals.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
If food made from mahua found in our forests and food from charla are included in the school's midday meal for children.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
In the mid-day meal, children at mothers' and Anganwadi centers should be given various kinds of stir-fried greens, papaya curry, fruits, etc.
— Ulapi Sahu · Patnāgarh, Balangir, Odisha
Speaking of the most nutritious food, if the government provides our forest products like Mahul, Char, Kendu, etc., as food in MDM (Mid-Day Meal), children will eat them and become intelligent/wise.
— Priti majhi
If food made from Mahua is given in schools, children will be able to get nutritious food.
— Anjana Khadia · Subdega, Sundargarh, Odisha
It would be good if food prepared with Kendu, Amla, Char, and Mahul is given to school children.
— Laxmi Bagh · Subdega, Sundargarh, Odisha
It would be good if forest products like Mahua, Chaar, and Kendu were included in the preparation of our children's Mid-Day Meal.
— Priti majhi
It would be good to provide millet-based food to school children for lunch.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Adaba, Gajapati, Odisha
Forest fruits like Kendu, Char, and Mahul, found in the forest, contain abundant nutritious food. It would be good to include them in the mid-day meals of students.
— DASHARATH SINGH · Jamunkira, Sambalpur, Odisha
If forest foods like Char, Mahua, Kendu, Mango, and Jam are added to PDS and mid-day meals, consumers will get nutritious food.
— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha
If herbal Tendu leaves, seeds, and millets can be included in the mid-day meal.
— Devisingh Solanki · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
Keshav Lal Nanoma stated that wild fruits like Timru and Custard Apple should be given in the mid-day meal for the nutritious diet of children.
— narayanlalbaranda5@gmail.com · Jhapa, Dungarpur, Rajasthan
Usually, in Anganwadi centers at schools, children should generally be given fruits and various kinds of leafy vegetable preparations in the morning so that they can receive nutrients.
— Ulapi Sahu · Balangir, Odisha
To provide more nutrition for the physical and mental development of children, ragi porridge, mandru, etc. are provided in the school's midday meal.
— gobardhan pangi
Potato and jackfruit, these two items, we can provide to children as food in the PDS mid-day meal program running in schools.
— Prasanna Pradhan · Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Khordha, Odisha
Should forest-based nutritious food from PDS be provided to children in mid-day meals or not? Yes, it should be. Ber (Indian jujube) and Tendu (Indian ebony) are available. And many other opportunities have arisen.
— Jeevan Kumar
Forest fruits like Kendu, Char, and Mahul, found in the forest, are rich in nutrition. It would be beneficial to include them in students' midday meals.
— Kumudini Chhanchan · Bhojpur, Sambalpur, Odisha
I think Nija Pradhan, Raike, Kandamula, and generally for lunch for children, we are requesting the government to include Mandia, Kandamula, forest fruits, Kendu, Sadhe Ganga, Amla, and various other types of roots which are Loeraka and Napanga, and when given to children, children get protein, because these are not refined foods, therefore we are requesting the government to include them in the mid-day meal.
— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha
It would be good to provide food to our children through mid-day meals at school.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Mohana, Gajapati, Odisha
To provide more nutrition for the physical and mental development of children, ragi and mandua should be included in school midday meals.
— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand
It would be good to provide food like millet (ragi) and pulses to school children twice a week during their midday meal.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
The most nutritious locally edible forest food items should be included in PDF mid-day meals, and the government wants to promote their nutritional value for children.
— Laxmanlal
Among forest products, Mahua is also a nutritious food. It would be good if the government utilizes this Mahua in various ways and provides it in school mid-day meals.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
In our school, in the mid-day meal that is provided, if we bring a beneficial extract from our forest and add those seeds, I will prepare it so that it contains many vitamin-rich things, and eating that would be very good.
— Parikshit Majhi
It would be appropriate if forest products like Mahua ladoo are prepared and served as part of the Mid-Day Meal in schools.
— Priti majhi
AI-synthesised pieces woven from many community voices on this theme. They may contain errors or interpretation — they're a reflection of the stories, not a record of fact.

By incorporating local, traditional grains like ragi and millet into school lunch programs, communities can significantly improve children's health and well-being.

Our community advocates for the integration of traditional, locally sourced foods into public programs to nourish children and preserve cultural heritage for future generations.

By embracing our ancestral foods, language, and traditions, we can nourish our children and strengthen our community's identity and well-being.

We ensure our children's well-being and cultural continuity by teaching them about the forest's bounty and the richness of our ancestral language and traditions.
The voices in this theme were gathered by these organisations through their community reports.