Tan My Ward is the first locality to implement the "Responsible Green Stick" model, a pilot model of Ho Chi Minh City to build a safe food chain for school kitchens.
Having a child studying at Phu My Kindergarten (Tan My ward), Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Bao Tran said that immediately after the school announced that it was the first unit to pilot the model, she proactively researched and monitored meals with "Green responsibility tick".
Scanning codes to know the supplier and the clear origin of food helps parents feel more secure about the quality of their children's meals" - Ms. Tran shared.
The "Responsibility Green Stick" model is being implemented at school kitchens with the goal of managing food safety right from the beginning of the supply chain, contributing to protecting students' health sustainably.
Accordingly, each supplier is responsible for the origin of raw materials; the processing unit is responsible for the quality of meals; the school is responsible for selecting and supervising the supply unit; the management agency is responsible for checking, supporting and publicizing information. At the same time, parents also become "smart supervisors" when they can fully access information about their children's meals through the origin traceability system.
Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Party Committee Member, Vice Chairman of Tan My Ward People's Committee - said that the locality expects to form a network of reputable businesses and suppliers, with full legal documents, meeting the requirements of electronic traceability and food safety standards to accompany schools in the area in the long term.
Through this, schools will no longer have to look for food sources each new school year, parents will have more confidence; and students will be protected by a scientific, transparent and responsible management system" - Mr. Giang said.
To make the model effective and go into practice, Mr. Giang suggested that units focus on implementing three key tasks.
First of all, continue to improve the traceability database, expand the standard supplier network and promote the application of digital technology in food chain management.
In addition, educational institutions need to consider food safety and traceability as mandatory criteria when selecting suppliers, absolutely not trading students' health for low prices.
At the same time, it is necessary to promote the supervisory role of the Fatherland Front, mass organizations, parents' representative boards and people to build a responsible consumption culture, saying no to food of unknown origin.
Leaders of Tan My ward also called on businesses and units providing meals and food to continue to accompany the local government. According to him, the sustainable development of businesses must be built on the foundation of business ethics and responsibility to the community.
Assessing the implementation of the model, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung - Deputy Head of the Trade Management Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade - said that Tan My ward pays special attention to the quality of meals and people's health, in which the top priority is students from preschool to secondary school and high school. Over the past time, the locality has implemented many solutions to improve the quality of school meals, from improving kitchen conditions to strengthening food quality control.
Connecting food supply sources that meet the "Responsibility Green Star" standard to school kitchens is expected to contribute to further improving the quality of meals, ensuring food safety and better health care for students" - Mr. Hung said.
In the coming time, in addition to public schools, Tan My ward will continue to propagate and mobilize non-public schools and groups to register to participate in the "Responsible Green Tile" model, contributing to expanding the safe food chain to many educational institutions in the area.
