We are pleased to have extended our partnership with the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) (formerly China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA)) for a second year.
Through this partnership, which is part of our Healthy Eating, Happy Learning – Children Health Improvement Programme in China, we are committing to support more than 2,000 primary school students and teachers in underdeveloped areas of Southwest China’s Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The students will benefit from nutritious snacks during their class breaks, with schools receiving new kitchen equipment to support healthy meals. Nutrition education will also be provided to students and teachers.
A purposeful programme
With more than 160 years of research, innovative food technology and community involvement in nutrition and health, this programme is aligned to our purpose of supporting healthy living and building thriving communities. It also allows us to actively contribute to the Chinese government’s development goals of “Healthy China 2030”, promoting the overall improvement of students' scientific dietary and nutritional knowledge.
Nick Hampton, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the China Foundation for Rural Development for another year and to make a positive and lasting difference to families living in the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Through our purpose of Transforming Lives through the Science of Food, we are passionate about providing people with better access to healthier food and education on nutrition, and so this partnership is built on mutual interests and goals.”
Supporting students with a healthy diet and promoting nutrition education
Explains Michelle Liu, Tate & Lyle’s Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific: “Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are in the Southwest of China, and most of the areas are located in deep mountains with poor natural geography, so there is an urgent need to raise awareness of healthy nutrition and improve the nutritional imbalance of children's diets. Tate & Lyle’s Healthy Eating, Happy Learning – Children Health Improvement Programme in China aims to support students to have healthy, balanced diets and promote nutrition education to achieve China’s student health goals.”
Michelle continues, “The programme provides students in underdeveloped areas with a nutritious snack of one carton of milk and one egg per day during the 2022-2023 school year. It also provides modern kitchen equipment for school canteens in these areas to resolve the problems of cooking and eating for students and teachers, ensuring children will eat healthy and nutritious hot meals. In addition, we will continue to work with nutrition experts from the Chinese national authority to customise nutrition education manuals and training courses for students and organise classes for local students and teachers respectively. Through this programme, Tate & Lyle will monitor and assess the impact of these interventions so that these experiences and educational materials can be used in the future to continue to improve the lives of more children, schools, and families within China.”
146,000 nutritious snacks, 1,150 students and 6 schools
Tate & Lyle’s Healthy Eating, Happy Learning – Children Health Improvement Programme in China began in two schools in Shanghai in 2017. On the back of its success, Tate & Lyle launched two new programmes for the 2021-2022 school year.
Firstly, Tate & Lyle is proud to have partnered with the China Foundation for Rural Development to support more than 2,000 children in 10 schools in underdeveloped areas of China’s Hebei and Hubei provinces.
Since 1 September, 2021, Tate & Lyle has provided a nutritious snack every school day totalling nearly 146,000 milk and egg snacks to 1,150 students in 6 schools, and donated 59 pieces of new kitchen equipment to 4 schools for nearly 1,100 students.
Tate & Lyle is also working with the nutrition experts from the Chinese Nutrition Society to jointly customise the nutrition education manuals, posters and training courses, and organise nutrition health education classes for both 200 local students and 200 teachers respectively.
Secondly, Tate & Lyle supported a kindergarten in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, close to our stevia production facility, by providing the children with milk, books, playground equipment and educational games to help their health and growth, and strengthen community engagement.
A shared passion for nutrition
“Tate & Lyle has a long history of supporting projects that improve the health and wellbeing of people in the countries where we operate. Healthier living, better access to healthy food, and nutrition education are vital for children’s development and we are proud to be playing a role in helping children and communities in China, and in many other countries across the world, to thrive and prepare them for a healthier and brighter future,” adds Rowan Adams, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Tate & Lyle.
Mr. Zheng Wenkai, Chairman of China Foundation for Rural Development, said: "The improvement of Chinese children's nutrition is related to their own healthy development and is an important part of the rural revitalisation strategy. We are very grateful for Tate & Lyle's attention and focus on the nutritional status of children in China, and its trust in CFRD. We look forward to working together in further strengthening nutritional health interventions for children, helping China's children develop with high quality, and contributing to the country's rural revitalisation."
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