The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) highlighted the importance of nutrition education sessions being attended by beneficiaries of the Walang Gutom Program (WGP) in the country’s fight against hunger.
During the opening ceremonies of the WGP Kusinero Cook-Off Challenge at the Alicia Community Center in Alicia, Isabela on Thursday (March 27), Undersecretary Edu Punay of the DSWD’s Innovations and Program Development Group (IPDG) said the WGP aims to promote nutrition and behavioral change among beneficiaries by helping them understand the value of buying and eating nutritious food through nutrition education sessions.
“Gusto nating ipakita sa programang ito na mahalaga ang nutrition education sessions, kung saan natututunan ng ating mga benepisyaryo ang tamang nutrisyon, pati na rin ang mga malikhaing paraan ng paggamit ng mga sangkap na maaari nilang makuha mula sa food redemption process,” Undersecretary Punay said as he read the message of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian during the cooking competition.
Attendance to the monthly nutrition education sessions is one of the conditions for WGP beneficiaries for them to regularly receive their monthly food credit worth Php3000.
Another strategy of the agency in promoting nutrition and healthy eating habits among beneficiaries of the program and their families is the WGP Kusinero Cook-Off Challenge.
“Higit sa paligsahan at pagpili sa pinakamagaling magluto, ang Walang Gutom Cook-Off Challenge na ito ay naglalayong ipakita ang kahalagahan ng masustansya, masarap, at abot-kayang pagkain para sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino,” the DSWD official said.
The cook-off challenge highlights the cooking skills of the WGP beneficiaries as they prepare dishes using ingredients gathered from the program’s food redemption activities.
“Binibigyang diin natin ang mensahe na hindi kailangang mahal ang rekado para makapagluto ng masarap na pagkain. Hindi din porke mura o abot kaya ang halaga ay wala itong sustansiya,” Undersecretary Punay said.
The five teams who topped the provincial level competition competed again in the regional level culinary challenge. They were given 45 minutes to prepare a dish (viand) using identified ingredients.
The ‘ginataang suso with gabi, crispy kangkong, and dynamite’ cooked by WGP beneficiaries Rosalinda Marquez and Christine Versoza from the municipality of Alicia garnered the highest score of 83 percent. They will represent the Cagayan Valley region in the National Cook-Off Challenge.
The DSWD’s WGP, created through Executive Order No. 44, aims to bring down the incidence of involuntary hunger experienced by Filipinos from low-income households.
The program targets to reach 750,000 food poor families by 2027.
