CAMAGÜEY, Cuba. – Camagüeyan families with students at the José Luis Tasende semi-boarding primary school received a request from the school authorities to collaborate with food and ensure lunch for the minors in that educational institution. Likewise, they were told that the delivery, which would not be mandatory, must be done “discreetly.”
According to the information provided by a professor at the institution, who asked to protect her identity to avoid being fired or reprisals, the only food available to students is “a soup and claria mince.” This diet, as he indicated, “has worsened in recent weeks” and is insufficient to cover the nutritional needs of the more than 100 students who attend the center.
A father, who chose to remain anonymous, also to avoid reprisals against himself or his son, said that the teacher asked him for “a little bit of raw rice so that the cooks could make some lunch for the children.” “We should not be the only ones responsible for feeding our children, since we pay a checkbook for their food at school,” another parent assured this medium.
The situation at the José Luis Tasende school contrasts with what was proposed by the Island’s Ministry of Public Health, which recommends “fresh, nutritious, safe and quality” foods to guarantee the adequate development of infants. However, the lack of resources and inefficiency in management make it difficult to guarantee adequate nutrition for students, which has possible repercussions on their health and school performance.
In mid-2024, the NGO Food Monitor Program and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) denounced the serious food situation that the Island was going through. At that time, Cuba was included, for the first time, in a UNICEF report on malnutrition. children and transcended that, in the largest of the Antilles, 9% of minors suffered from “severe childhood poverty”, which means that “Cuban children have less than half of the eight food groups considered necessary for a healthy life” .
The UNICEF report also highlights that 33% of children under five years of age in Cuba live in conditions of “moderate poverty”, with access to between three and four essential foods.
However, the Food Monitor Program and the OCDH warned that this figure could be far below reality. “Many international institutions are guided by statistics provided by the Cuban Government, which are usually outdated or biased,” both organizations noted.
In its investigations, Food Monitor Program has found that 90% of primary schools on the Island lack sources of drinking water.
Last February, Cuba fell 30 places in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), an impact that “until now no other country has experienced without having gone through a civil war or a natural disaster,” both organizations recalled.
Research also reveals that the compositions in the school diet consist mainly of carbohydrates, with a permanent absence of cereals, dairy products, meat and fish foods, fruits and vegetables, leading to highly unbalanced foods being served in “rice and bread” and “bread” menus. soup and sweet potato.”
Furthermore, the two organizations concluded that “undernutrition” and “hidden hunger” in Cuba are determined by the greater presence of ultra-processed foods rich in sugars and unhealthy fats, which are cheaper and less healthy options in the midst of the shortage and the prevailing inflation in the country.
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