(21 July 2021, Valencia City — Trisha Mae Butlay, RND) The Central Kitchen of the City Government of Valencia was established as one of the COVID-19 responses and has been operating for more than one (1) year now since March 2020.

The hands behind the Central Kitchen diligently serve food to their main clients, namely the frontliners, patients in isolation units, and health personnel manning the vaccination site. Every day, 28 kitchen staff grind from 4:00 AM to 4:00 PM to produce 1,300-1,500 healthy and nutritious food packs.

They also initiated other activities related to nutrition such as food gardening (backyard and urban). Being situated within the NUTRILAND in Brgy. Pinatilan, the team also do beautification of the 2.5-hectare land. Given this, not only do frontliners benefit from the hard work of Central Kitchen staff, but as well as the target beneficiaries of the NUTRILAND. Further, kitchen staff are subject to regular weight monitoring, and they also conduct maintenance activities in the kitchen.

The Central Kitchen operates like that of a dietary department in a hospital where therapeutic or special diets are served. Hypoallergenic diet, diabetic diet, soft diet, and vegetarian diet are among the routine diets being prepared. Registered Nutritionist-Dietitians and staff from the City Nutrition Office lead the operations in the kitchen to ensure that the foods served are nutritious, safe and appropriate as prescribed.

Its implementation encountered challenges due to the different quarantine levels that the City went through and indeed affected the Central Kitchen operations due to restrictions. Factors affecting it are manpower, facilities, budget and its processing, as well as the menu. Despite the odds, the Central Kitchen continued to battle and find ways to resolve issues in order to deliver the necessary service to its clients.