Free meal program faces hurdles on food safety, funds management

JakartaPost-Apr 28

Almost four months into the rollout of the free nutritious meals program, President Prabowo Subianto recently boasted about its achievements, claiming that he had heard praise from officials in other countries about the initiative’s rapid expansion when compared to similar programs in other countries. When the program was first launched on Jan. 6, it aimed to feed 600,000 recipients, mostly schoolchildren. The number gradually grew to 3 million recipients by April, before officials expanded the targeted population to 82.9 million students and pregnant women by the end of 2025. But cracks have started to appear amid the rapid scaling up of President Prabowo’s flagship program, with the initiative meeting challenges from food poisoning and budgetary issues surrounding the kitchen providing the meal packages. The expansion was followed by an increase in the number of food poisoning cases, which many blamed due to a lack of food quality control measures implemented by the thousands of food science and nutrition graduates recruited for the program. One recent incident took place in Cianjur regency, West Java, where at least 165 students were admitted to the hospital for food poisoning after consuming the free meal packages.  The Cianjur case became the sixth known case of food poisoning since the program was launched in January. The free meal program was also marred by alleged misappropriation of funds earmarked for the kitchens. Ira Mesra Destiawati, who owns an SPPG in South Jakarta, filed a report with the police on April 10 that the Media Berkat Nusantara (MBN) foundation, tasked with paying her kitchen using funds from the BGN, owed her nearly Rp 1 billion (US$59,400) in unpaid bills. Read more at:

https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/04/28/free-meal-program-faces-hurdles-on-food-safety-funds-management.html.