Today we focus on Article 9: Frequent accidents of poisoning in Indonesia’s Free Nutrition Meals Program, and organizations call for the suspension of the government’s program.
More than one-fifth (21.5%) of Indonesian children under the age of five have a developmental delay caused by chronic malnutrition, and the "Free Nutrition Meals Plan" is the core promise made during the presidential campaign by President Prabhupada to address the long-standing developmental delay of children by providing nutritional support to the country's future generations and improve the overall quality of the population.
Prabowo's "Free Nutritious Meal Program" was officially launched nationwide on January 6, 2025. As of the end of April 2025, the total number of recipients had exceeded 3.2 million, and by September, the number of people covered had rapidly grown to 22.7 million people, and ultimately achieved the long-term goal of covering 82 million people. Yes, Indonesia's population structure is quite young. The population under the age of 18 accounts for about 30% of the total population, and there are about 82.5 million teenagers under the age of 18. The "Free Nutritious Meal Program" is to cover these school-age teenagers.
The operation of the Free Nutritional Meal Program relies on a central kitchen system known as the Nutrition Service Supply Center. These kitchens are responsible for cooking meals based on menus designed by certified dietitians. The Prabowo government plans to establish 5000 such kitchens in 2025 and strives to increase the number to 30,000 by 2027. The budget for each meal has been adjusted to 10,000 Indonesian rupiah (approximately RMB 4.52), and meals usually include rice, protein sources (such as chicken, fish or beef), vegetables, fruits and milk.
In addition to the purpose of directly strengthening the physique of Indonesian teenagers, the plan also calculates the economic account. The "Free Nutritious Meal Program" emphasizes the use of local ingredients, which not only ensures the freshness of food, but also directly benefits local farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises and stimulates local economic development. The Indonesian government believes that this investment can generate significant economic returns. For every dollar invested in nutrition, it may generate economic returns ranging from $4 to $35 in the future.
However, as mentioned in the briefing today, the “Free Nutrition Meal Plan” is facing serious challenges in the fast-moving process, with food safety at its core. According to the Indonesian National Nutrition Agency report, a total of 70 cases of poisoning related to free nutrition meals were recorded between January and September 2025 involving at least 5,914 recipients. Some analyses indicated that a large number of suppliers failed to fully comply with food safety regulations, in addition, some kitchens for early preparation of meals, long sealing storage distances, and logistics distances were too far away, which also led to teenage collective food poisoning.
In short, frequent food poisoning incidents have aroused the concern of some people and organizations, and there are calls for the government to suspend the plan and conduct a comprehensive evaluation and improvement. Fortunately, public opinion generally believes that the plan is indeed beneficial to the present and the future, but there are not many doubts about the free nutritious meal itself (Note: Prabowo's support rate is as high as 80% after 100 days in power). Therefore, as an archipelagic country with complex terrain, logistics and distribution in many places are difficult and costly wherever the territory reaches. How to ensure that young people and children everywhere can get the same fresh and safe nutritious meals is continuously testing the Indonesian government's management and execution ability.