There is no national school meal programme in Vanuatu, although different school food initiatives exist that are mainly led by international organizations. Other types of foods available in schools are provided by food vendors, canteens or brought from home by the students.
School Food
Vanuatu does not have a national school meal programme. However, different school meal initiatives exist across the country that vary depending on the capacities and needs of communities and inputs from international organizations such as the WHO and UNICEF.
Parents and caregivers usually contribute financially to school meals, while the government may subsidize up to 50 per cent of the costs for children from the most vulnerable families.
Other types of foods available in schools are provided via canteens and food vendors or students bring their own from home, for example in some rural areas where schools do not have canteens or kitchen infrastructure.
In 2013, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health jointly developed the Healthy Vanuatu School Food Guidelines, which provide guidance on the types of foods that should be sold or provided in schools. According to the guidelines, schools are required to allocate funding from their annual budgets towards canteen and kitchen operations (e.g., provision of gas, firewood and electricity), and any profits from food sales should be directed towards purchasing nutritious foods. Private catering companies can provide school meals based on menus agreed with the school management, including school community associations and mothers’ groups.
The main characteristics of the school food guidelines are summarized below:
| Users of the guidance |
|
| School food covered |
|
| Objectives | To provide guidelines on the types of foods that should be sold or provided at school |
| Basis | Food-based |
| Food groups covered | Starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, protein |
| Other guidance included | They also include recommendations on local healthy snacks to be served in schools |
As part of the WHO Health Promoting Schools initiative, Vanuatu’s schools are required to develop an individualized school health policy that focuses on reducing obesity and improving nutritious options in school canteens.
The Ministry of Agriculture also supports schools in accessing nutritious foods through the Farm to School project (first introduced on Vanua Lava Island in 2019) as well as with home-grown school feeding initiatives, to strengthen the supply of vegetables, fish and eggs for schools.
The Vanuatu Christian Council of Churches plays a major role in promoting gardening in schools.
Development process
The mandatory school food guidelines, which are currently being updated, were developed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, based on the Vanuatu National Gudfala Kakae (Healthy Food) Policy (2017-2030).
Implementation
To support implementation of the school food guidelines, the Ministries of Education and Health conducted training for school cooks in 2017 and 2018, although these sessions were mostly focused on food safety. All school caterers must have a certified training course on food safety.
There is no specific implementation plan for the school food guidelines. However, the Gudfala Kakae (Good Food) Policy (2017-2030) encourages schools to adopt these as well as other relevant guidelines such as the Sweet Drinks policy (2014). Under this policy, sugar-sweetened beverages are prohibited at pre-primary and primary schools throughout Vanuatu while plain water, fresh coconut water and unflavoured milk are promoted. School staff are responsible for enforcing this policy, as set out in the Ministry of Education's head teachers manual outlining duties, and each school is required to identify rules for enforcing the policy internally (e.g., school staff are to confiscate prohibited drinks, etc.).
To strengthen the implementation of school food guidelines, a pilot project is working with six primary schools to develop school health policies that cover school food, among other topics.
Monitoring and Evaluation
There is no specific monitoring and evaluation plan for school food guidelines in Vanuatu. However, in 2022 the Ministry of Health carried out an exercise to monitor compliance with the guidelines, as part of an evaluation of the Health Promoting schools’ programme. As of 2023, the report with the main results is pending.
A summary of the school food guidelines includes the following:
All meals served at school must contain foods from groups 1 and 2 (see table below).
Always provide healthy drinks for students, such as juice made from local fruits, coconut water, milk or plain water. Cordials and fizzy drinks should not be sold (As described in the Sweet Drinks Policy).
Always use iodized salt. Iodine is important for children’s brains, but only use small pinches of salt.
Cooks should only use small amounts of oil, butter, salt and sugar in cooking.
Food must be prepared in a clean and hygienic environment and all cooks must hold a valid Food Safety Certificate. Under the Food Control Act, it is the law that anyone who makes food to be sold or served to the public must have a Food Safety Certificate.
Schools are not to make profits from selling food at the expense of students’ health and well-being. Schools should allocate funding from their annual student grants towards the running of the canteen and kitchen (e.g., gas, firewood, electricity) and any profits from food sales should be put back into the canteen to purchase healthy food for the children.
Schools are encouraged to involve students in food preparation. This will teach them about healthy cooking and assist cooks to prepare meals more quickly.
Table: Suitable and unsuitable foods
Group 1 Energy Foods | Group 2 Protective foods | Group 3 Body-Building foods | |
Eat plenty These are healthy foods with the right amounts of vitamins, minerals, starchy carbohydrates and healthy fats. | Manioc, yam, taro, kumala (sweet potato), potato, plantain banana, breadfruit, avocado, coconut slices | All fresh fruits and vegetables Herbs and spices – e.g., onion, ginger, garlic, chili Frozen fruits and vegetables Green coconut juice | Local fish and seafood Meat – e.g., chicken, pork, beef (fat and skin cut off) Milk, yoghurt, nuts (unsalted), egg, dry beans, lentils |
Eat some (serve moderate amounts) These foods are still good, but do not have as many vitamins and/or have some added sugar, unhealthy fats or salt | Bread, rice, pasta, macaroni, pancake, cracker, sandwich, popcorn (unsalted), roti, coconut milk (watered down) | Tinned fruit (drained) Tinned vegetables (drained) Local fruit juice or juice with water added | Tinned meat or fish (oil drained) Meat with small skin or fat Evaporated milk Baked beans Peanut butter, cheese |
| Do not eat at school These are high in added sugar, unhealthy fats or salt, and lower in vitamins and minerals | Chinese noodles, pizza, fried potatoes, chips, bongos, gato, ice-cream, ice-blocks, sweet biscuit, cake, strong coconut milk, lollies, twisty, fizzy drink, cordial, doughnut, jams, Omai, green peas | Tinned fruit (not drained) Tinned vegetables (not drained) fried vegetables, juice | Tinned meat or fish (not drained), sausages, bacon, condensed milk, fried fish or chicken |
Healthy snack ideas
Peanuts and other local nuts (unsalted);
popcorn (unsalted);
pancakes cooked in a little oil;
boiled eggs;
chopped fruit, vegetables and coconut wedges;
local fruit juices, milk or coconut water;
bread with toppings such as egg, avocado, tomato, cucumber, peanut butter or banana; and
local foods such as simboro or boiled or baked root crops.
School-Based Food and Nutrition Education
Publications
Technical Support for National Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in Fiji, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu - TCP/SAP/3708:
Pacific Island Countries face a serious burden of malnutrition, including acute and/or chronic undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity, overweight, and diet-related non communicable diseases. Diet is one of the single most important contributors to malnutrition, which is influenced by many complex and multilayered causes, such as personal preferences, culture, religion, the environment, economics, availability of foods. Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) provide context-specific guidance on how to make nutritionally-balanced food and beverage choices prepared in a safe and hygienic way available for the general population and for vulnerable subpopulations, including pregnant and lactating women, infants and young children. The Pacific regional FBDGs, which were prepared by The Pacific Community in 2002, are used by PICs to provide guidance on healthy food consumption and meals. Subsequently, the SPC published new Pacific guidelines for healthy living in 2018 to replace the 2002 Pacific FBDGs.