School meals should include eggs. There are good reasons for that.
The new government in West Bengal has a problem. ISKCON, the organisation that cooks many school midday meals, does not serve eggs because it follows a vegetarian diet. So the government wants to give schools extra money to buy eggs from somewhere else.
This is not the first time ISKCON’s meals have been in the news. In 2019, some people complained because its school meals in Karnataka did not even include onions or garlic in the sambar. But the real question is not whether vegetarian food is good or bad. It is whether eggs are the best choice for children’s health.
Eggs are full of protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals that help children grow strong and stay healthy. Many children in India do not get enough protein. Foods like dal, soya and paneer also have protein, but it is harder to make sure every child gets the same amount every day.
Eggs also have another advantage. One egg is one serving. It cannot easily be watered down or mixed with cheaper ingredients the way dal sometimes can. Eggs are easy to buy, carry, cook and serve. That makes them a simple and reliable food for school meals.
Most Indians eat many different kinds of food. For children from poor families, the egg they get at school may be the only protein-rich food they eat that day. That is why many states have added eggs to midday meals. West Bengal usually serves them once or twice a week. Tamil Nadu serves them almost every day. But today, fewer states include eggs than they did ten years ago.
School meals are meant to help children learn, grow and stay healthy. They should not depend on the food choices of the organisation cooking the meals or the government of the day. If children need eggs for better nutrition, then giving schools “extra funds” instead of eggs is simply not the best solution. That’s why replacing eggs with anything else is a bad-egg idea.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
