Shanxi's first Chunmiao Nutrition Kitchens to benefit over 50,000 teenagers

At about 12:00 pm on October 17, after the ringing of the school bell, students at Xiangfen No 3 Junior Middle School lined up at the entrance to the school canteen. Serving 1,323 students delicious meals every day, the Chunmiao (Spring Sprouts) Nutrition Kitchens program kicked off its first phase in North China’s Shanxi province.

According to people familiar with the matter, Chunmiao Nutrition, a non-profit program organized and sponsored jointly by the Amway Charity Foundation and China Caring Next Generation Working Committee, aims to improve children’s nutritional status in poor areas by providing kitchen fittings for country schools in Midwest China and offering training for kitchen managers. So far, the Chunmiao Nutrition program has covered 20 provinces (autonomous regions or municipalities) and over 200 counties in China. In total, more than 3,000 Chunmiao Nutrition Kitchens have been built and over 3,500 kitchen managers have been trained, benefiting 1.55 million teenagers. The promise of building 1,000 Chunmiao Nutrition Kitchens in three years, made in 2011, has been met and exceeded.

This catering program was introduced to Shanxi early this year after site selection, renovation and decoration. Xiangfen No 3 Junior Middle School is among over 60 middle schools located in Luliang, Xinzhou and Jinzhong covered by the program. Over 50,000 students have benefited from the program.

Moreover, a large public initiative was launched on an online charity platform to appeal to netizens to provide nutritional recipes or donations to the children. In just two weeks, the program has solicited nearly 300 recipes and received a donation of 126,832 yuan ($20,711) from 2,893 donors.

Edited by Michael Thai