Jakarta. The type of foods given to the schoolchildren in the upcoming free meal program will vary depending on the region. This means that some students will receive moringa leaves, locally known as kelor, instead of milk for their calcium intake, according to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).

President Prabowo Subianto has his heart set on a nationwide nutritious meal program to improve the children’s nutritional intake. BGN, which is in charge of overseeing the program, revealed that the government would likely use moringa leaves, among others, as a substitute for milk in regions that lack dairy cattle.

“Milk will become part of the menu in areas that are abundant in dairy cattle. But in regions where cows are hard to come by, we can provide the needed protein with eggs or fish. We can get the calcium from other food like moringa,” BGN’s chief Dadan Hindayana said on Thursday.

Despite the menu differences, every lunch plate distributed will meet the same nutritional requirements. 

“Yes, the food may differ depending on where the kids are. But it will pay attention to the needed calorie intake [for each educational level] and the nutritional composition,” Dadan said.

The government will officially begin distributing the free meals on Jan. 6. It will start with 932 locations first, and will gradually expand to 2,000 locations by April. The government will upscale the distribution to 5,000 locations across the archipelago between July and August 2025.

Chief Social Empowerment Minister  Muhaimin Iskandar said Wednesday that the government was still trying to test out whether it was possible to replace milk with food made from moringa leaves, according to state news agency Antara. He said: “Everything is still under process. Yes, it is still on a pilot run. We are still trying to synchronize the [program] between the central and sub-national governments, as well as the local culture.”

Indonesia is planning to spend no more than Rp 71 trillion ($4.4 billion) to run the free meal program next year. At present, the government intends to spend Rp 10,000 per lunch plate.

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