Home » News » The most vulnerable children in Madrid will return to healthy food from May 18 | Madrid

The most vulnerable children in Madrid will return to healthy food from May 18 | Madrid

No more fast food for vulnerable children in Madrid. The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso rectifies its initial plan to maintain the distribution of menus for Telepizza, Rodilla and Viena Chaplains and will launch, starting Monday, May 18, an alternative of healthy food for the students who benefit from dining room scholarships, whose families are recipients of the Minimum Insertion Income (RMI).

Friday 15 will be, therefore, the last in which the menus of these chains are distributed to minors with fewer resources, sources from the regional Executive confirmed this Thursday. after forwarding the data the Cope chain. Unhealthy menus have been available since March 19 in the restaurants of these companies where they are collected free of charge by the 11,500 families with the least resources. The Community pays five euros per menu to Telepizza and Rodilla, and 7.3 euros to Vienna Chaplains (since this company made routes to distant municipalities). In this time the children have suffered damage: weight gains of up to six kilos and weakening.

The vice president of the Community, Ignacio Aguado explained this morning that the mechanism was an emergency resource when schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the truth is that Madrid is the only community that has resorted to fast food. “We had to launch this Telepizza emergency mechanism. In 11 days those contracts will end and we will have to look for alternatives, “said Aguado.

Just five days ago a spokesperson for the Madrid administration stated that they would maintain the service with these companies until the end of the school year, that is, until the end of June. The extraordinary circumstances have not changed (the schools are still closed), but criticism for the damage to the health of minors has weighed more and those contracts will not be renewed. Since March 19, more than 130,000 menus have been distributed to students from disadvantaged families.

On Wednesday, EL PAÍS already reported that the Community of Madrid was holding talks to resume the regular menu for children from families with low incomes. The president resumed contact on Wednesday with the companies that had terminated the contracts in mid-March, when the schools closed.

The turn of the helm had been anticipated on Wednesday afternoon by Aguado, who announced at a telematic press conference that the regional government was seeking to resume “healthy diets” even though the schools are still closed. The Vice President of the Central Government, Pablo Iglesias, spoke late on Wednesday on Twitter with thanks to Ayuso for “looking for a healthy alternative”.

Ayuso was not long in responding to Iglesias, but was more cryptic in her tweet. “Mr. Vice President: once the companies of catering they can work normally, we will return to the ordinary menus, “said the Madrid president, who denounced the vice president for the” slander poured “against these catering companies that have collaborated to fulfill this feeding function during the state of alarm.

Sources of Ayuso’s confidence specified that this Thursday the Minister of Education, Enrique Ossorio, will give more details about it. “It planned. morning [por hoy] the counselor explains, “said these sources.

Madrid, the only one with fast food

When the schools closed, the Pedro Sánchez government created an aid fund to guarantee the basic right to food for children from families with RMI. Each community sought to maintain this service, to which 11,500 students are entitled in Madrid. Some, like Catalonia, Valencia or the Canary Islands, chose to offer a wallet card; others, such as Andalusia or Castilla la Mancha, maintained contracts with catering that serve schools. Madrid was the only community that opted for fast food.

Disregarding the nutritionists’ warnings, Madrid turned to Telepizza and Rodilla, to which he pays five euros for each menu. A week later Vienna Chaplains, a food company, joined gourmet It included healthier dishes but with a much smaller scope than Telepizza. Last week, the central government questioned Ayuso’s choice and warned him that if he did not justify the reason, the state would not refund the money for the provision of the service. In fact, for the moment it is the only one that has not received the transfer from the central government.

As this newspaper reconstructed, the Community neglected a donation of 12,000 bananas for three days a week that would have enriched these menus. On Wednesday, Viena Capellanes accepted the donation of Bananas from the Canary Islands that Telepizza and Rodilla had rejected and from which the Community of Madrid had ignored. This Thursday, the company has published a video in which it defends its menus:

Telepizza also did not take long to react. “Once the extraordinary emergency circumstances have been overcome, the company terminates its collaboration with the Community of Madrid,” he explained in a statement. The company has emphasized the “commitment” that has allowed it to collaborate with different institutions and organizations, at the regional and local levels, to help alleviate the effects of the crisis among the most vulnerable groups, donating more than 15,000 pizzas from the start of the health crisis, as well as maintaining employment and implementing strict safety and prevention protocols to protect its employees and customers. The company also wanted to explain the enormous effort it made to offer its services to families in 48 hours, “with varied menus.” In addition, he says, he did not accept the collaboration with the regional administration “for economic or business reasons”, since it is a deficit service.

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