The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in partnership with the Ondo State Government has organised a master training for cooks across the 18 local government areas of the state in Akure under the Federal Government school feeding programme.
Present at the training were stakeholders from the state team made up of the state dieticians, environmentalists, hygiene officers and officials of the state team for NSIP.
Speaking on the essence of the training, Mrs Kemisola Olasetemi, the team leader from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said the training became necessary by building cooks’ capacity.
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Olasetemi added that the capacity building would enable the participants to deliver on set goals of providing quality meals that were hygienically prepared.
She explained that the ministry had the mandate to provide quality food under the Federal Government School Feeding Programme.
Olasetemi also said the programme would afford the team the opportunity to capture the data of cooks, and affirmed the importance of keeping up with the menu timetable.
“This is the training of the master trainers and they are expected to step down what they have learned at their various local governments.
“There will be continuous retraining at the local government level from time to time,” she said.
Also speaking, Mrs Bunmi Ademosu, the Special Adviser (SA) to the State Governor on Public and Intergovernmental Relations and State Focal Person on NSIP, restated the government’s commitment to ensure the programme achieves its set goals.
Ademosu urged participants to equip themselves with the necessary skills on how to cook in a hygienic environment as the government did not want the spread of diseases such as Lassa Fever because of the carelessness of cooks.
“This is most especially important for the cooks from the North Senatorial District where there are reports of Lassa Fever at some point.
“Excess rainfall in the Southern Senatorial District means there might be bursting of pipelines leading to pollution of the water that can affect fishes.
“So, we are retraining them for the sake of our children because we want them to eat well and stay healthy,” she stated.
The SA explained that the state government was determined to ensure compliance to food timetable as nutrition, and environmental officers across the local government would do continuous checks.
Ademosu frowned on sharp practices by some cooks, promising that her office would continue to do a routine check, and those found culpable would face the consequences.
She applauded the local government areas that were doing well, saying that all cooks should get prepared for a meeting with the state governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
Ademosu, therefore, enjoined the cooks to render good service from their hearts, considering that the service was to the less privileged.
Mrs Bosede Musiliu and Mrs Temitope Ayeni, two of the cooks, noted that they had learned a lot, promising to take the message back to their various local government areas.
They commended the government for the training, saying it was apt as they had learned among others how to preserve their food and the essence of washing their hands while cooking.
