Serving Brighter Futures: Feeding Organisation Revamps its Menu

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Feeding organisation PSFA has served in excess of two billion meals since they began their mission 66 years ago, and now they’ve cooked up a new menu to serve even brighter futures!

Western Cape, South Africa (19 July 2024) — For 66 years, the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) has been living up to its mantra, ‘You can’t teach a hungry child,’ by putting meals on the table for thousands of learners each and every day and ultimately serving brighter futures.

Since beginning in 1958, the feeding-focused organisation reports that it has delivered and cooked in excess of two billion meals to close on 200 education institutions in and around the Western Cape, serving brighter futures with each child supported. In fact, given that excelling in education and good nutrition often go hand-in-hand, it’s safe to say that PSFA isn’t just serving students’ individual futures but also the future of a better-educated South Africa as a whole.

However, serving brighter futures requires a readiness to adapt and improve wherever possible. That’s why today marked a special day for PSFA who, for the first time in 16 years, have given their menu a makeover!

While the new menu still includes the staples including samp, rice, sugar beans, soya, pilchards in tomato sauce, fresh veggies and fruits, it’s been spruced up for the pilot phase with a variety of seasonal vegetable and fruit with new preparations including noodles, chicken livers, soya variants and raisins.

New Menu Goodness Breakdown

According to an analysis of the new menu by public health and nutrition consultant Helen Donkin, here are some takeaways from the new menu:

The new menu has improved energy distribution properties from all macronutrients (meaning less from carbs and more from protein and healthy fats)
There is also improved protein RDA (recommended dietary allowance) by 7-14%, now meeting 23-31% of the protein requirements for the different age groups
Additionally, the menu is high in healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids and fish oils EPA, DPA and DHA
Minerals have been improved most notably for primary school age groups in iron, magnesium, copper, iodine and selenium meeting over 40% of RDA.
Not to mention, vitamin A and vitamin B12 now meet over 100% of the RDA

“Although RDA differs for different age groups and between genders, our meals have been analysed by nutritionist Helen Donkin in terms of the macro and micronutrients, minerals and vitamins,” says PSFA Director Petrina Pakoe.

Simple Staples Serve Brighter Futures

Celebrity chef and PSFA ambassador Zola Nene showcased just how delicious the menu’s simple staples can be, adding her own creativity to the mix for those present at the new menu’s launch.

Taking to share just how much PSFA means to her, Zola shared:

“The work that PSFA does is incredible. They are not simply serving a plate of food to thousands of school children in the Western Cape but are changing lives. I feel privileged to be part of a solution to alleviating hunger.”
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The Proof is in the People

For Petrina Pakoe, who is herself a product of the school feeding programme, the value of these efforts cannot be understated.

“I know what it’s like to go to bed hungry and the value of that daily meal,” she says. “I am who I am today thanks to PSFA. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them…but it goes beyond a simple plate of food, it is about making sure the meals are filling and nutritious. Adequate nutrition is essential for the growth and development of children and to help combat malnutrition and related health issues.”

All of this goodness is only made possible by the many hands behind the scenes working hard to serve brighter futures, and you can be a part of it too—find out more here.