A dimension within Healthy Midday Meals
Discussing the importance of healthy, nutritious food, including grains and spices.
150 voices speak to this
Positive
Overall Community Sentiment
It would be good to provide nutritious food like finger millet in meals.
— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha
By including finger millet in the midday meal, one can benefit from nutritious food.
— Lily Barik · Kalahandi, Odisha
It would be good to serve millet food, which is the most nutritious forest food, for lunch.
— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha
Ragi gruel, in its natural form, is pure and nutritious for the body. It would be beneficial if everyone consumed ragi gruel with their midday meal and thereby received such nutritious food.
— Mishra · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
It would be good to provide millet-based food to school children for lunch.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Adaba, Gajapati, Odisha
It would be good if things like turmeric, beleric myrobalan, flaxseed, pearl millet, and finger millet are given.
— Mamata Panigrahi
Millet is a nutritious and protein-rich food. We can provide millet to children in school midday meals because it is nutritious.
— Padmini Bhoi
Nutritious food items like ragi should be introduced in mid-day meals and PDS.
— Sunil oraon · Gumla, Jharkhand
Request to the government: It would be good if food prepared from ragi/millet is provided in PDS midday meals.
— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha
It would be good to provide millet-based meals twice a week for lunch at school.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
It would be good to provide food like millet (ragi) and pulses to school children twice a week during their midday meal.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
Our traditional nutritious food like kodo, kutki, maize, sorghum, wheat, etc., as khichdi and dalia should be given in mid-day meals, and it would be great if the government also includes such grains in PDS.
— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
It would be good if foods like ragi, millet, and Sua are given to school children in the mid-day meal two days a week.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
If ragi, millet, drumstick leaves, and jute leaves were included in the school midday meal, it would provide more nutritious food to children.
— Parsuram Sa · Sundargarh, Odisha
It would be good to provide millets like Suan, Mandia, Kangu, Bargudi Badi to school children for three days a week in their midday meals.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
It would be good to include kangu millet in the forest's staple diet.
— sudhir gamanga · Bada Baridi, Rayagada, Odisha
It would be good if the government provided highly nutritious foods like banana, sweet potato, yam, and sago through PDS in mid-day meals.
— anita khora · Sutipadar, Koraput, Odisha
Millet is an indigenous food. If we provide millet to children as a midday meal in schools, their physical and mental wellbeing will improve.
— Padmini Bhoi
Millet is our traditional food, and it would be good if millet were included in school midday meals.
— NAGRIK VIKASH SANGATHAN · Kalahandi, Odisha
Mahua is one of the most nutritious food items, which is very beneficial for our health. Along with this, coarse grains (millets) are also beneficial for health. They should be included. PDS.
— संगीता मीणा · Metali, Dungarpur, Rajasthan
It would be good to give school children ragi and millet-based food two days a week in their midday meals.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Mohana, Gajapati, Odisha
Including millet, foxtail millet, and sorghum twice a week in the school's midday meal would keep health good.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
It would be good if all the nutritious foods found in the forest such as Lepherasā, Kachar sāg, Gukurijīv sāg, Kaḍī, Heḍuā, Chhati, Ruguḍā are added to the Mid-Day Meal PDS.
— RINA BEHERA · Hemagiri, Sundargarh, Odisha
If food items like millet, maize, and corn are provided in the school's midday meal, health will remain good.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Gajapati, Odisha
In our school, in the mid-day meal that is provided, if we bring a beneficial extract from our forest and add those seeds, I will prepare it so that it contains many vitamin-rich things, and eating that would be very good.
— Parikshit Majhi
Among forest products, Mahua is also a nutritious food. It would be good if the government utilizes this Mahua in various ways and provides it in school mid-day meals.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
Kodo, kutki, maize, and sorghum porridge, and also indigenous pulses, should be included in the midday meal, and it would be very good if the government promotes them.
— Rupesh Maravi · Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh
The aquatic plants, tubers, mushrooms, and all other forest products found in the forest are nutritious food. Therefore, if we can add this food to PDS and school mid-day meals, it would be very good.
— Sushama Digal · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha
If ragi flatbread, ragi porridge, and other ragi preparations were subtly served to the children in their midday meal, it would have been good for everyone.
— Mishra · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
Millet and horse gram should be included in the midday meal.
— Kachala Choudhary
It would be good if nutritious food is given to school children in their mid-day meal.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Adaba, Gajapati, Odisha
It would be beneficial if food items like corn and millet porridge are provided to school children for two days during the mid-day meal.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
If school children are given foods like ragi, foxtail millet, pearl millet, and kodo millet three days a week, their health will be good.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK · Gajapati, Odisha
If food like ragi, suva, and millet is given to school children for two days a week in their mid-day meal, their health will remain good.
— SUSANTA PATTNAYAK
If herbal Tendu leaves, seeds, and millets can be included in the mid-day meal.
— Devisingh Solanki · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
The government should include millet in PDS or mid-day meals.
— Kusha Mahakud
If forest-based foods like Mahua, Chironji, and Kendu were prepared and given to our school children in their Mid-Day Meal, it would be beneficial.
— Priti majhi
Forest yams contain the most nutritious food. It would be good if this is used in PDS and children's mid-day meals.
— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha
If forest foods like Char, Mahua, Kendu, Mango, and Jam are added to PDS and mid-day meals, consumers will get nutritious food.
— RINA BEHERA · Sundargarh, Odisha
If the government provides forest food like honey and some other forest produce as part of the midday meal, it would be good.
— Priti majhi
AI-synthesised pieces woven from many community voices on this theme. They may contain errors or interpretation — they're a reflection of the stories, not a record of fact.
By incorporating local, traditional grains like ragi and millet into school lunch programs, communities can significantly improve children's health and well-being.
Farmers in Kandhamal advocate for restoring traditional, organic millet cultivation to improve health and revitalize local food systems.
By cherishing and utilizing the traditional foods and herbs found in our forests and lands, we can sustain ourselves and combat malnutrition while preserving our natural heritage.
By embracing our ancestral foods, language, and traditions, we can nourish our children and strengthen our community's identity and well-being.
