On the afternoon of August 23rd, 2018, the conference on deploying the "Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software" was organized by Soc Trang Department of Education and Training in co-operation with Ajinomoto Vietnam.

Mr. Trieu Tri Binh – Branch Manager of Ajinomoto Vietnam was sharing the goals of the School Meal Project

School nutrition has always been of great concern in society, especially parents. This is the stage in which children accumulate necessary nutrients to prepare for the rapid development at puberty. Therefore, the daily diet plays a fundamental role as a foundation for the comprehensive development in stature, physical strength and intellect. Meals need to provide enough energy for studying and entertaining and ensure nutritional balance as well. 

Besides, current primary boarding schools don’t have much specialized experience in developing menus and calculating nutritional needs, partly because boarding staff have no intensive training and lack nutritional knowledge.

Responding to the condition, Ajinomoto Vietnam has initiated and developed the School Meal Project since 2012 with the goal of “Carrying out the responsibilities of contributing to education, nurturing and training the country’s future generations through nutrition and health improving activities, helping to enhance the stature and intellect for primary pupils”.

During the time of developing the Project, Ajinomoto Vietnam has been receiving close co-operations from Vietnamese leading professional organizations in nutrition and education, typically the National Institute of Nutrition – Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Training. Thereby, carrying out researches, practical surveys to develop the menu set, the poster of “Three minutes to change awareness” and the “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software”, suitable with the recommended nutritional needs for Vietnamese, particularly for the primary age.

The software offers 120 available menus with over 360 non-repeatable and free dishes for lunch on the Project’s website:  www.buaanhocduong.com.vn with the aim of providing and developing nutrition-balanced, diverse and delicious menus and supporting the management of boarding meals at primary schools.

Till June 2018, the School Meal Project has been deployed to 36 provinces and cities with 2,910 primary boarding schools nationwide implementing the “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software” in menu preparation as well as the illustration poster of “Three minutes to change awareness” in educating nutritional knowledge for pupils.

Besides, the School Meal Project also attracts the attention of the community through two “Model Kitchens” in Vietnam. So far, the Project has successfully built two “Model Kitchens” at Trung Trac Primary School (District 11, HCMC) and Hoang Van Thu Primary School (Lang Son). In the schoolyear 2018-2019, the kitchen at Hoang Van Thu Primary School plans to increase the number of pupils served school lunches by 1,500. These kitchens also act as models for schools all over the country to visit, learn and apply appropriately with the reality of each area.

By implementing the School Meal Project nationwide through key contents: the “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software”, the poster of “Three minutes to change awareness” and the “Model Kitchens”, Ajinomoto Vietnam is making efforts to contribute to the improvement of nutrition in children through rational school meals. This is also one of the important contents of the National Strategy in Nutrition and the General Plan in Developing Stature, Physical Strength for Vietnamese in the period of 2011-2030.