Comments on: Marketmanila.com Feeding Program — Four Consecutive Years, @150,000 Meals!

By: sheila

sheila — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:30:05 +0000

hi there!

i was surfing the net looking for ways on how to do a feeding program/charity program for my birthday and had stumbled upon your site. congratulations on your site. it is up to date and very informative. it is a fun-read indeed! :)

i was wondering if you are still holding feeding programs and if you are, would you mind sending me a message on how i would be able to help? it would be a good birthday present for myself.

thanks!

By: nina

nina — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:20:28 +0000

Congratulations, MM, to your family and your staff. Four years of successful feeding program is quite an achievement!

By: Best Food In Town

Best Food In Town — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:13:23 +0000

This is awesome, you’re such an inspiration, and the reason why i decided to create my own Food Blog. Please send me a message regarding your future projects. I want to help in my own Little Ways!

By: Connie C

Connie C — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:51:59 +0000

Is red or brown rice perhaps more expensive because they are produced in lower quantities and/or are the imported better varieties with better palatability index which tend to be more expensive anyway? I know I buy the imported Thai brand in ‘Pinas when I can’t get the specially ordered ones from the rice mill. We should find out why.

Yes, we all need better education on the food we put on our tables.

By: kerbeth

kerbeth — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:18:47 +0000

In case you plan to do another project, count me in.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:30:34 +0000

Thanks for this overview! Truly appreciate it :)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:24:13 +0000

Lesley, first you have to have sufficient funds, enough to sustain a program for a reasonable length of time. Second, you may want to involve parents as volunteers to cook the meals to minimize costs. Third, you may have to purchase the equipment needed for a feeding kitchen (stoves, pots and pans, serving utensils, etc.). Fourth, you need to outline what the meals will contain (viand or protein and vegetable, rice, fruit, etc.) and cost out an average meal (say PHP20-25 today). Fifth, you need to have a trusted counterpart administer the meals and ensure the recipients are the most deserving. Sixth, the funds have to be released in small tranches to prevent misuse. Seventh, active monitoring and recording of meals served is very useful. Eigth, continuity of attendance for kids over the school year is important and we found that the meals resulted in a very good improvement in attendance rate for classes.

If you want to run a program for say 50 kids and three meals a week, the cost of food alone would be roughly PHP3,750 per week, times a 40-42 week year, that is PHP157,500 minimum + administrative time and expenses. Of course you could reduce the meal to say lugaw or sandwiches, but while this is better than nothing, it is not actually a nutritionally complete meal…

Nina, I agree poor food choices are a serious problem. I can often think of nutritious meals for less money than a fastfood piece of chicken with rice. Why the vast majority of hourly wage earners think they are doing themselves a service by buying fast food is beyond me.

maron and kerbeth, the program has ended (isn’t that clear from the write up?) so there is no way to “join” or have the next 150,000 meals…

Connie, oddly, brown or red rice in Manila is often much more expensive than white rice, so the default lower cost choice is white. But I agree there are lots of ways to improve these meals. But ultimately, if everyone only chose to have the kids they could afford to raise with food, education and shelter, then this wouldn’t be as big of a problem. Overpopulation is a MAJOR PROBLEM in my opinion… but I don’t want to get started on that harangue again. :)

By: maron

maron — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:22:40 +0000

kudos to marketman and fellow readers!!!

good luck to the next 150,000 meals!

By: Lesley

Lesley — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:23:14 +0000

Hi MM, I have been following your blog for about a year or so now. This particular post caught my attention because me and my friends are just planning to start a long-term feeding program this June, for a community in San Juan. Hope you can share some tips/advice from your 4 years of experience. Thank you and God bless you more!!!

By: chibi

chibi — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:35:58 +0000

I was just thinking if marketmanila still holds its regular feeding program and found this post. It’s a shame that I have been able to donate only once =( – which was like 2 or 3 years ago, as I have carelessly diverted my extra funds somewhere else =|. Nevertheless, I would like to congratulate you, MM, and the rest of marketmanila staff and readers!!