The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to launch a new initiative that will promote nutrition and healthy eating habits among beneficiaries of the Walang Gutom Program (WGP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.

Dubbed as the “Walang Gutom Kusinero: Cook-Off Challenge,” the cooking contest will be launched on Feb. 28 at the Dapa Gymnasium in Dapa, Surigao del Norte, according to Undersecretary Edu Punay of the DSWD’s Innovations and Program Development Group (IPDG) in a news release on Wednesday.

He said the initiative is designed to highlight the WGP as a leading program in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, and as part of the advocacy for the social behavioral change component of the WGP that will serve as a tool for promotion.

“As one of the conditions of the WGP, beneficiaries attend nutrition education sessions. The monthly sessions help them to purchase and cook nutritious meals for their families. With this new initiative, beneficiaries can showcase the skills they’ve gained through these sessions and demonstrate their culinary skills by preparing nutritious, affordable, and balanced meals, while promoting sustainable food practices,” Punay said.

The cooking challenge is exclusive for WGP beneficiaries from pilot areas comprising of the National Capital Region, Cagayan Valley, Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, and Caraga.

The DSWD official said the cook-off challenge will have three stages: provincial, regional, and national level.

For the provincial level, the WGP Regional Program Management Office (RPMO) will conduct home visitations to the chosen participants for documentation of the authenticity of the cooking process.

The Top 5 finalists will move to the regional level where all participants will be given 45 minutes to prepare a dish (viand) using identified ingredients.

Winners from the regional level will be the region’s representative to the National Walang Gutom cook-off.

At the national level, each participant will be given one hour to prepare a meal that represents their region. A mystery ingredient will be provided and must be incorporated in their recipe.

“Participants will be judged based on three main criteria: healthiness, taste, and affordability. Their dish will be evaluated if it is aligned with the nutritional principles of balanced meals, the overall flavor, if the dish is cost-effective, and if they utilize readily available ingredients,” Punay said.

The Walang Gutom Program, created through Executive Order 44, aims to bring down the incidence of involuntary hunger experienced by Filipinos from low-income households.

It also promotes social and behavioral change among food-poor families by teaching them how to prepare nutritious, delicious, and affordable meals.

The program targets to reach 750,000 food poor families by 2027. (PNA)