Managing School Feeding: Comparing Indonesia’s Free Meal Program and Japan’s Shokuiku System

Abstract

School feeding is a widely adopted strategy for improving the nutritional status, health, and long-term human-capital quality of children from an early age. Through the Free Nutritious Meal (Makan Bergizi Gratis, MBG) program launched in January 2025, Indonesia is building a national policy to meet the nutritional needs of learners, while Japan has long operated its Kyushoku school-lunch system integrated with Shokuiku as food and nutrition education. This study analyses and compares the implementation of the two programs and identifies best practices that can be adapted to strengthen Indonesian school-nutrition policy, with particular attention to the educational-management dimension. The research uses a qualitative approach and a comparative design based on library research. Data were drawn from scientific articles, books, government policy documents, and international agency reports, and were examined through content analysis, qualitative description, and comparative analysis, reinforced by source triangulation. The findings show that the two programs share the goal of improving learners’ nutritional status and supporting human development. However, Kyushoku rests on a more mature system supported by a strong legal basis, nutrition education embedded in the curriculum, licensed school dietitians, high food-safety standards, and continuous evaluation. MBG offers broad coverage and the potential to empower local economies through regional food sourcing, but it still faces challenges in governance, distribution, financing, food safety, and monitoring. Read through the functions of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling, Japan’s experience offers transferable lessons that must be adapted to Indonesia’s geographic, social, cultural, and institutional conditions.