Look into nutritional content of Rahmah meals, too

 

With the discussion surrounding the Menu Rahmah initiative, it is opportune to revisit the food affordability and nutritional consideration of Malaysians’ diet, and its implications.

Food is a fundamental human right that is essential for survival and well-being. It is a basic need of all humans. Food is not just a commodity that can be bought and sold like any other consumer good.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledges the right to food as a component of the right to a satisfactory standard of living. This right is also established in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in regional treaties and national constitutions.

What is the extent of Menu Rahmah in short-term relief to food affordability?

The Menu Rahmah initiative intends to grant greater access to affordable food to the poor population, notably the B40 category. With the rise in the cost of living, the specially-curated RM5 menu would increase the affordable food options for the poor.

From fast-food joints (e.g. Burger King) to mamak stores to economy rice eateries, Malaysians struggling to make ends meet have greatly welcomed the initiative.

What does this mean for a typical family of four?

B40 groups are divided into four subgroups, B1, B2, B3 and B4. B1 households are considered extremely poor, and B4 households are at the upper end of the scale.

With an average food cost of RM8 per person per meal, the B1 family can only afford one meal daily, assuming they receive no subsidy. Even then, this constitutes 50% of their income.

For a B2 family, each family member can afford up to two meals a day, but with 68% of their income going into food expenditure, these families would need help to make ends meet.

B3 and B4 families could afford up to three meals a day, but even then, at 81% and 66% food expenditure over income ratio, some would continue to eat one or two meals a day, as the rest of their income would be used to cover non-food expenses.

The Menu Rahmah pricing brings new light to food affordability among the B40. The B4s would be able to afford three meals at a reasonable portion of their income. Even B1 households would be able to afford up to three meals a day. While it may seem staggering to consider 62% (two meals) and 93% (three meals) food expenditure to total income ratio affordable, B1 households typically receive more subsidy than the other three groups, whether through the formal channel (e.g. Bantuan Sara Hidup) or informal avenues (e.g. community food assistance programme, free school meal for the children, ad-hoc food bank or charity food distribution).

Granted, the Menu Rahmah programme is not a new concept in Malaysia. It is similar to the Menu Rakyat 1Malaysia (MR1M) introduced in 2011.

However, the unsustainable pricing from the previous programme restricts options to only a small pool of eateries. On the other hand, Menu Rahmah’s success is a result of nationwide adoption that was formed from the process of public-private consultation.

As of the last public record, all Mydin outlets, burger king fast food chains, over 12,000 mamak eateries and 800 Indian establishments have participated in this initiative.

Concerns over nutritional content

With the affordability issue somewhat abated (in the short run), we need to look at the second pillar of concern: the nutritional content of the food consumed.

The United Nations Right to Food extends beyond affordability. The right to food stipulates that it is the right of every person to have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, and culturally acceptable food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

To be clear, linking the Menu Rahmah to certain health conditions, such as autism, has no scientific basis. It is also inaccurate to single out the nutritional concern from Menu Rahmah, since the menu itself is simply an extension of the existing Malaysian diets. What we should be more concerned about is the inability to break out of poor health as a result of poor nutrition.

Besides, eating unhealthy by choice is a matter of personal liberty – though certain programmes can and should be implemented to raise awareness and encourage healthier eating.

For the B40s, there is not much choice in the type of food they can consume as long as it’s affordable. It is important to distinguish between meeting calorie requirements and getting enough nutritional needs. While the Menu Rahmah meals and other low-cost Malaysian food could easily meet daily calorie requirements, poor nutrition would cause malnourishment.

Menu Rahmah meals, and by and large Malaysian food, would be poor in nutrition because of the heavy reliance on processed ingredients, high levels of sugar, salt, and fat, and low amounts of vegetables and fruits.

Many Malaysian dishes are also high in calories and carbohydrates, which can contribute to weight gain and blood sugar imbalances. Cooking methods such as deep-frying and stir-frying can add unhealthy fats and reduce the nutrient content.

Effects of poor nutrition

The lack of a nutritional diet comes at a great cost – it is detrimental to productivity, causes child stunting and perpetuates cyclical poverty.

A poor diet can impair cognitive function and physical performance. Studies have shown that people who consume a balanced and nutrient-rich diet have better concentration, memory, problem-solving skills, higher energy levels, and faster reaction times. In contrast, a poor diet and lacking essential nutrients can lead to fatigue, sluggishness, and difficulty concentrating.

The loss of productivity would mean that the B40 is often too undernourished to participate in highly productive activities that could improve their well-being, perpetuating the cycle of poverty within the community.

The effect on our children would be even more dire as poor nutrition has been known to cause child stunting – a failure to grow to their full potential because of inadequate nutrition.

Malaysian children who experience stunting are more likely to suffer from poor health, have a lower cognitive function, and achieve lower educational outcomes, which can essentially perpetuate a poverty trap. Poor nutrition and stunting can limit these children’s ability to reach their full potential and succeed in school and the workforce, thus perpetuating a cycle of low productivity and limited economic mobility.

While the first part of the problem is an affordability issue, the government needs to address the nutritional value of food to poor people to prevent productivity loss, child stunting and cyclical poverty.

The Menu Rahmah initiative is much welcome, especially when the cost of living has been burdensome. However, this initiative should be a temporary solution.

At the same time, our country needs to find a forward-looking solution to not only improve affordability in the long run but also take extra steps to provide nutritional meals to the B40 community so that stunted growth and productivity would not be a hindrance for them to move up the social ladder. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.