Agriculture - Rural areas

Concerns about nutritional quality of Vietnamese people

LE MINH HOAN, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development January 23, 2025 12:14

We pride ourselves on being an agricultural country, but why are there still so many malnourished children and adults suffering from diseases due to micronutrient deficiencies?

dinh-duong.png
Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son (far left) during an inspection trip and visit to people in a carrot field in Duc Chinh commune, Cam Giang district, Hai Duong province after typhoon Yagi. Photo: HT

One late winter afternoon, as a light drizzle fell on the lush green fields of Hai Duong countryside, Nguyen Ngoc Son, a National Assembly delegate and a passionate agricultural researcher, sat in a small house by the fire with local farmers. On the table were familiar dishes: white rice, a bowl of spinach soup, and some braised fish.

Looking at the tray of food, Mr. Son could not help but feel troubled. He held a bowl of rice and gently said to the villagers: "It looks full, but in fact our meals lack many nutrients. Nutrition is not only about filling the stomach, but also about being healthy, helping our children study smartly, and adults work hard."

Another time, Mr. Son visited a family in the northern mountainous region. The meal consisted of only white rice, some boiled wild vegetables, and a bowl of diluted fish sauce. He asked the mother of the house: "Does our family eat eggs or drink milk?"

The woman shook her head: "I don't have money to buy it, sir. Eggs are rare, and milk is only for the youngest child in the family."

That answer made Mr. Son think of solutions to bring nutritious food closer to people: developing small-scale livestock farming models in households; improving the quality of vegetables through new varieties; applying science and technology to process and preserve food...

Born and raised in Hai Duong, a land of vast rice fields, Mr. Son soon understood the value of agriculture and the hardships of farmers. But he also realized a paradox: although Vietnam is a major rice exporter in the world, the nutritional quality of many Vietnamese families' meals is still limited.

I still remember, at the National Assembly forum, Mr. Son once said: "We are proud to be an agricultural country, but why are there still many malnourished children and adults suffering from diseases due to micronutrient deficiencies? Are the rice, vegetables, and food we produce of good quality? How can people eat enough and eat properly?"

In many meetings, Mr. Son always emphasized the role of technology in improving the quality of agricultural products and nutrition. He told his colleagues that today, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data can help us predict nutritional needs and support analysis of people's diets in each region, while the internet of things (IoT) can monitor the quality of crops and livestock right in the fields...

Mr. Son proposed programs to support farmers in producing cleaner, more nutritious food, including:

Promote organic farming projects to reduce toxic chemicals in food;

Building a "nutrition kitchen" model in schools and hospitals, providing standard meals;

Support training people on how to prepare food to retain more micronutrients, instead of just cooking in the traditional way.

The concerns and proposals of National Assembly delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son are also the concerns of many others, including us farmers.

The National Nutrition Strategy for the period 2021 - 2030 and vision to 2045 states that all people have the right to equitable access to nutrition and food to achieve optimal nutritional status, contributing to improving health. We also set the goal of implementing appropriate nutrition to improve nutritional status appropriate to each subject, locality, region, and ethnicity, contributing to reducing the burden of disease, improving the stature, physical strength and intelligence of Vietnamese people.

Up to now, we have achieved many remarkable achievements and results in implementing the national nutrition strategy. However, the past and upcoming stages have had and will have many difficulties and challenges. The implementation of this strategy requires the implementation of many synchronous solutions, in which improving the nutrition of Vietnamese people's meals plays an important role. This is the responsibility of all of us, of the whole society, not just any ministry or sector.

On the journey to improve the nutritional quality of Vietnamese people, each full meal today - full not only of starch, protein, fat but also micronutrients - is a contribution to building a solid foundation for the bright future of the entire nation.

LE MINH HOAN, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
(0) Comments
Latest News
Concerns about nutritional quality of Vietnamese people