Indonesia Starts Free Nutritious Meal Program Today

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - Starting today, Monday ( 1/6), the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) officially launched the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG). Head of Public Relations of BGN, Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan, explained that the initial phase of this program in January 2025 is focused on school students.

The government aims to provide 937 MBG kitchens by the end of January and increase the number to 5,000 kitchens by the end of 2025. With this capacity, the program is expected to reach up to 20 million beneficiaries, including children aged from pre-school to high school, toddlers, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.

Currently, 190 MBG kitchens are operating in 26 provinces, covering areas such as Aceh, North Sumatra, Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, Papua, and others.

Meanwhile, several ministers and public officials reviewed the implementation of the first day of MBG. Among them:

Hasan Nasbi (Head of Presidential Communications) visited the SPPG kitchen in Bogor, West Java.
Wamendagri Bima Arya monitored schools in Bogor City.
Minister of Communication and Culture Meutya Hafid visited a school in Depok.
Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi monitored the public kitchen at Halim Perdanakusuma, Jakarta.
Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo and several other officials visited locations in Jakarta, Karawang, and Semarang.

BGN also collaborates with various parties to support this program, including BKKBN, which provides family data for food distribution and nutrition education. BPOM, to ensure food safety and the feasibility of production facilities. The Ministry of Villages, which mobilizes Village-Owned Enterprises (Bumdes) for raw material supply and kitchen management, and Perum Bulog, which provides quality and affordable food.

The MBG program is a concrete step to support the Golden Indonesia target through improved community nutrition.