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‘Healthy Canteen Project’ launched as Colombo city joins prestigious global network
Dr. Lakshmi C. Somatunga handing over the ‘Guidelines for a Healthy Canteen in Workplaces’ to Ms. Bhadrani Jayawardene
From the word go, the intention was to show that it was all about healthy diets. The breakfast was a lavariya, manioc cutlet and banana served on a kenda-kola wattiya and plain tea in a coconut shell with kitul jiggery!
It set the tone for the ‘Healthy Canteen Project’ launched in early June by the Health Ministry at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) auditorium.
Under this pilot project, 10 canteens have been chosen to develop a healthy canteen policy under dietary guidelines with evaluation once implemented. These canteens include those in the Health and Public Administration & Home Affairs Ministries, the CMC, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA),Hayleys Pvt. Ltd., and Royal, Ananda & Musaeus Colleges and Devi Balika Vidyalaya.
The ‘Guidelines for a Healthy Canteen in Workplaces’ prepared by the Health Ministry were also launched.
The project comes under the stewardship of the Public Health Service (PHS) of the Health Ministry with strong guidance by Additional Secretary (PHS) Dr. Lakshmi C. Somatunga.
Dr. Lakshmi C. Somatunga addressing the gathering
Dr. Somatunga recalled how when she was in the United States of America a while ago, she met then New York Mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomburg and heard about the ‘Partnership for Healthy Cities’, a prestigious global city network.
This vibrant network covers 74 cities dotting the world and are bent on creating healthier, safer and more equitable urban centres by reducing the prevalence of the scourge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. Around 320 million urban residents are reportedly living in these 74 cities.
With Colombo being selected as the 70th city, the Health Ministry and CMC had submitted a joint proposal to Bloomberg and been approved, paving the way for the implementation of a healthy canteen project within the CMC area.
It had been in 2017, that Bloomberg in his role as the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Ambassador for NCDs and Injuries, launched the Partnership for Healthy Cities, in coordination with the WHO and ‘Vital Strategies’, a leading global public health organization.
Looking back, Dr. Somatunga described how first they wished to make the ancient and famous city of Anuradhapura part of the Partnership for Healthy
A Health Ministry official taking a sip of tea from a coconut shell
Cities but the proviso that the city should have a population of a million, both permanent and migrant, put paid to these moves.
“Now we are going forward with the city of Colombo,” she said, adding that one step at a time in the right direction is being taken. This pilot project would help spread the word to other cities in Sri Lanka to follow suit.
Among the speakers were CMC Commissioner Bhadrani Jayawardene and representatives of the pilot participant-canteens who made projections on the changes they would be initiating to make their eateries have healthy and wholesome food and beverages.
The breakfast provided by the CMC
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