Makati provides free snacks to students under Project FEED 

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay has launched Project FEED (Food for Excellent Education and Development) to provide free nutritious snacks to public elementary school students in the city. The program aims to alleviate hunger and promote healthy eating habits among students while easing the burden of parents who are struggling to make ends meet.

The mayor, together with her husband, Makati City 2nd District Rep. Luis Campos, led the launch of the Project FEED vending machine at the Makati Elementary School where they demonstrated to the students how they can access a variety of snack foods and drinks from a vending machine using a tap card.

The vending machines have been installed in all 25 public elementary schools in the city. One vending machine will be installed in each school, except for those with bigger populations. These are Comembo Elementary School with two vending machines, and Pembo Elementary School and Rizal Elementary School with three vending machines each.

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Project FEED is part of the city's Expanded Project FREE (Free Relevant and Excellent Education) that provides students with leather and rubber shoes, tumblers, socks, rain gear, dengue and hygiene kits, jackets, and Japan-inspired school bags and uniforms.

According to Binay, the city has allotted P235,000,000 for the said project, which will cover all 25 public elementary schools in the city. Project FEED will give some 42,024 students from Kinder to Grade 6 free access to a banana bar on Mondays, oatmeal choco chip cookie on Tuesdays, cheese muffin on Wednesdays, chocolate fudge brownie on Thursdays, and one juice drink on Fridays.

The snacks were created using Nutriflour developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Nutriflour is a blend of powders made from cassava, sweet potato, moringa/malunggay, squash, and monggo beans. For the juice drink, fresh fruits puree were mixed with vegetable extracts and stevia as natural sweetener.

Binay explained that providing healthy and delicious snacks to students can help ensure that they have the energy and nutrition needed to focus on their studies. "We teamed up with the DOST for this project because we want our students to enjoy their snacks and look forward to eating them. We want them to be energized so that they can focus better on their studies," Binay said.

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Project FEED promotes the consumption of nutrient-rich root crops and vegetables disguised as cookies and bread which are appealing to kids. The local chief noted that the snacks were designed to be attractive to children so that they would enjoy eating them.

The program is a vital initiative for public school students as it promotes healthy eating habits and provides access to nutritious food for those who need it the most. The initiative is a significant contribution to the welfare and education of children in Makati, and it has the potential to become a model for other local governments to follow.