NNC-7, Cebu City jointly launch Nutrition Month

CEBU, Philippines — The Central Visayas Regional Nutrition Council has joined hands with Cebu City for the launching of the Nutrition Month yesterday with a series of activities dubbed as the “aFOODable” Fair.

One of the highlights of the launching event was the “Nutri RAeCipE” cooking contest, where creative individuals and food lovers showcase their abilities to make delicious and healthy meals on a budget and friendly price.

With the goods purchased at the food fair, the identified contestants are to prepare a tasty dish that is both economical and healthy.

According to the National Nutrition Council-7, the competition places a strong emphasis on the idea of accessibility and encourages contenders to develop recipes that give preference to regionally available products and economical cooking techniques.

Among the affordable dishes cooked by four competing contestants were chopsuey with mushrooms, kamunggay chips with cheese and without cheese, vegetable stir fry and squash bola-bola. Contestants were given P200 by the NNC-7 to purchase all their ingredients.

This activity, it said, is one way to encourage and inform consumers on how to change to a healthy, sustainable diet while also promoting the goods produced by local farmers.

Besides the cooking contest, a series of activities was also conducted like the sharing of Food Security in the Household and Basic Urban Gardening Tips wherein personnel from Cebu City Agriculture Office taught the audience how to do hydroponics.

The food fair on local garden produce was organized in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture. Farmers from mountain barangays of Cebu City, members of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations and beneficiaries of Sustainable Livelihood Programs as well as members of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network also display and showcase their produce/products at the fair.

This is also a way to raise awareness among the general public on the importance of supporting food system value chain from production, distribution, processing, marketing, purchasing and consumption and its implication to availability, accessibility and affordability especially for healthy foods.

NNC Assistant Secretary and Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang, in her video message, said that this year’s theme, “Healthy Diet Gawing Affordable For All,” enjoins all and concerted actions to improve access of Filipinos to more affordable and healthier diets.

NNC-7 regional program nutrition coordinator, Dr. Parolita Mission, said that this year’s event strives to increase awareness of the value of a healthy diet and equip people with the information they need to make decisions that will benefit their overall well-being.

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, in his speech, said it is a challenge for the family to provide nutritious food on the table especially to small kids, who should start eating vegetables while young.

Day care pupils in Cebu City looked colorful in their respective attire wearing mostly fresh vegetables and fruits while barangay and city health workers also joined the dance contest.

The Department of Health-7, likewise, conducts services including random blood sugar and cholesterol determination.

Earlier, the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay launched the 49th Nutrition Month ahead of the official launching of the celebration.

In Mandaue City, Mayor Jonas Cortes led the activity with an agri-fair at the Mandaue City Heritage Plaza with some barangays participating the event displaying their various products such as fruits and vegetables. — (FREEMAN)