Saturday, July 28, 2007 DepEd hails DTI for banana chips program By Joy Romares-Sevilla
THE regional director of the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed gratitude to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Southern Mindanao for making the group one of the cooperators in the implementation of Banana Chips Promotion Program, which was formally launched to public schools Friday.
Susana Teresa Estigoy, DepEd regional director, said the program is timely, saying it will serve as a response of the department to the call of the government to provide options for the students and pupils and introduce a nutritious and healthy food rather than junk foods.
"We are very glad that DepEd was chosen by DTI as one of the partners of this program, we now encourage the principals, teachers, and the parents to become agents to resolve our problem on how to entice students to choose the food that is healthy for them," Estigoy said Friday.
"We are now in the midst of our campaign to provide information to the students how they can benefit having banana chips as their snacks. Finally, we should decide to say "no" to junk foods and "yes" to banana chips," she said.
Estigoy also shared some facts regarding the nutritional value of banana chips saying that it is rich in potassium that prevents high-blood pressure.
DTI Undersecretary Merly M. Cruz said banana chips will be beneficial both for the industry and for the consuming youth sector.
The cooperators of the program namely: Department of Health (DOH)-Southern Mindnao, the National Nutrition Council (NNC), and DepEd and Commission on Higher Education (Ched)-Southern Mindanao, on the other hand, have identified their respective concerns, objectives, and goals for the banana chips promotions program.
DepEd and Ched's concern is to encourage pupils and students to increase the intake of nutritious foods with its comprehensive school health and nutrition service.
NNC has noted the high intake of foods that are high in fats and sugar, but low in other nutrients; the DOH takes cognizance of the increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases and seeks to promote among others, a healthy diet and nutrition; while the DTI's goal is to create more jobs.
