Eating Together
My grandmother was very clear on what I eat and how much daily. She used the time-tested formula — meal should occupy only 50% of the stomach. Water and air should settle the balance. There was no count of calories or protein intake. I was always on the margin on the food intake, though we had a three-meal formula in the house. I never heard my parents talking of the unholy trinity — sugar, salt and fat. We had the fourth player, coconut, with a liberal presence in what we ate. Sweets occasionally appeared on festival days. I never bought chocolates or sweets as my pocket was always empty.
My school lunch box contained a single item. I ate my lunch with my friends, squatting on the stones near the well in the school. I never carried a water bottle as I directly drank Water from the tap. We shared stories, and it was a lot of fun. We all sat in a circle during dinner time, and my mother would mix the food in a large container and serve morsels in our hands. No plates and spoons, and she would decide how much each one would get; it was her concept of ‘portion control’.
There was a mid-day meal programme in the municipal schools; our school did not have the scheme. We were very jealous of those students who had hot free food every afternoon.
As my children went to school, the situation was different. My daughter had a ‘nashta’ corner in Udayachal school when she was small. The school gave one item as a snack in the break, and the children loved it. She told us several stories at the ‘nashta corner’ every day after returning home. When they became senior students, they did not want to carry the tiffin boxes because of the possible ‘shame’ associated with taking the pack. They would remain hungry most of the day, being very conscious of their appearance. Occasionally, they would go to the ‘juice junction’ nearby for a grilled sandwich.
According to Nobel Laureate Dr Amrtya Sen, a mid-day meal scheme must become an essential primary education component in India. It would not only improve nutrition, but it would also improve the effectiveness of education. The idea behind the scheme is that the children play, eat and learn together. Sitting and eating together is a part of peer learning. In the last few years, the government has taken different models to deliver mid-day meals to children in government schools. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a secular not-for-profit organisation, currently cooks, transports, and serves 1.8 million midday meals to government school children in 19,257 schools across 12 states and 2 Union Territories in India daily. I could not find the calorie count on the internet. I know that the organisation has special vans to deliver the food on time.
The meal concept has changed entirely now. In a private school in Bangalore, breakfast consists of fruit, staple and carbs with 400 kcals and 6gm protein, lunch with a salad, the main course and a dessert with 500kcals and 15 gm protein, and a snack for 300kcals. It seems to be a chef-curated menu from a five-star hotel. While I do not know the calorie count at the house, I am amazed that the school can assess and deliver the commitment daily. It is a ‘maharani’ spread and poor Vava, four years old, knows the meaning of neither calories nor protein. She does not know the proper usage of the fork and spoon. ( I could be wrong here.) I am sure she can not distinguish between non-vegetarian or vegetarian dishes. I wonder whether the school is the business of running an upscale restaurant or imparting education.
I need to consider going to such a school again seriously, though Vava insists that I can only wait at the gate and that the school shall not entertain adults like me. On the other hand, I would be thrilled if the school could use ‘swiggy’ to deliver the ‘nutritious’ food to me at my doorstep.
