Feeding Education: The Work of the Peninsula School Feeding Association
- Indigo Earth Foundation
- Mar 9
- 9 min read
Sixty-eight years of ensuring that hunger does not stand in the way of learning in South Africa.
At Indigo Earth Foundation, we believe in connection and in the power of word of mouth. You never know which encounters or opportunities may unfold simply by following a piece of advice, keeping an open mind, and remaining curious.
That is exactly what happened with the Peninsula School Feeding Association. One client of Indigo Safaris recommended the organisation to Christopher. He decided to look more closely at their work and was immediately struck by the scale of their actions. He chose to support them in 2025 and continues to do so through the Foundation.
We met the team recently. As is often the case, it is always more meaningful when the story is told by those closest to the action, the people who understand the challenges involved and who work every day to achieve tangible results on the ground.
Before watching the video below, it is useful to understand the broader reality in South Africa.
The association will celebrate sixty-eight years of existence on the 10th of March 2026. Its main focus is feeding hungry children and creating the right conditions for teaching and learning.
PSFA focuses on nutrition and food security. The organisation provides daily meals to children and young people attending primary schools, Early Childhood Development centres, high schools, colleges, and after-school feeding programmes, which provide a safe area for children.
According to a report compiled by the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute, three out of every four children in South Africa live in poverty. Approximately thirty per cent of the country’s population experiences food insecurity.
The context is equally important. The government does not provide school meals for all public schools and children. As a result, PSFA complements the work of the government in the Western Cape in order to help ensure that children have the basic conditions necessary for education.
A good way to gain an initial understanding of the quality and impact of their work is to watch the video below from a local television programme recorded a few years ago. The video has not aged, and the concept remains the same.
The organisation was founded by Rotary on the 10th of March 1958. On that same date, the National Party government terminated the national school feeding programme, citing “wastage” due to poor administrative control and accountability.
However, it quickly became evident that the need for school feeding was considerable. Many schoolchildren came from families living below the breadline, and urgent action quickly became necessary following the government’s decision.
Frequent appeals from concerned school principals soon followed. They reported that children were fainting in classrooms or skipping school altogether because of hunger. For teachers, this meant trying to teach children who had not eaten since the previous day. In response to these appeals, the Peninsula School Feeding Association was established.
At that time, it cost ten shillings per term to feed a learner affected by poverty, which represented less than one rand for an entire year.
The organisation’s mission is to combat the prevalence of hunger among learners attending schools and other educational institutions.
Its vision is to reduce hunger among schoolchildren.
A model built on community participation
Over the decades, PSFA has developed a practical and efficient approach to school feeding.
Its model is centred on providing ingredients rather than prepared meals. Communities, often involving unemployed parents, are trained and empowered to prepare the food themselves.
PSFA supplies:
Ingredients
Set menus, adaptable during periods of drought
Equipment, including gas stoves, cooking utensils, pots and plates for children
Gas refills
Cleaning materials
The organisation places strong emphasis on ensuring that children are able to eat their meals with dignity.
PSFA FEEDING EDUCATION MENU
The meals prepared in schools follow a structured menu designed to provide balanced nutrition using affordable ingredients.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast |
Maize meal | Maize meal | Maize meal | Maize meal | Maize meal |
Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
Rice/Samp | Chicken Livers | Samp | Savoury/ Chicken Soya | Curry/ Chicken Soya |
Pilchards in Tomato | Rice | Sugar Beans | Noodles | Rice |
Oil | Oil | Oil | ||
Salt | Salt | Salt | Salt | Salt |
Seasonal vegetables | Seasonal fruit/vegetables | Seasonal vegetables | Seasonal fruit/vegetables | Seasonal vegetables |
PSFA’s school feeding programme is specifically structured to address hunger and improve the nutritional status of learners. Each meal provided meets at least thirty-three per cent of the learner’s Recommended Daily Allowance.
PSFA currently provides daily nutritious cooked meals to a total of thirty-three thousand one hundred and thirty-three learners across three hundred and eighty-two educational institutions in the Western and Eastern Cape:
23 253 learners at 138 primary, secondary and special needs schools
8 400 children at 235 Early Childhood Development Centres
300 children at three Orphans and Vulnerable Children Centres safe parks
1 180 students at six Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges
To date, PSFA has served more than two billion nutritious meals to underprivileged schoolchildren. By ensuring that children receive a daily meal, the organisation contributes to building a solid foundation for education, which remains essential for future opportunities.
All food stocks are stored at PSFA’s warehouse. External transport companies are contracted to ensure the timely delivery of ingredients to each school participating in the programme.
Monitoring and evaluation
PSFA employs field workers who manage, monitor and evaluate the proper implementation of the feeding programme at the schools supplied. They conduct regular site visits and verify that operations comply with PSFA protocols, including but not limited to quality and hygiene control, stock management, cooking conditions, adherence to the non-wastage policy, and reporting procedures.
Kitchens at schools
PSFA’s approach to Early Childhood Development nutrition support differs from its school feeding programme. For ECD centres, PSFA partners with Social Services Organisations that manage clusters of registered Early Childhood Development centres. These organisations provide guidance, management support and upskilling through various programmes.
Within the PSFA framework, a baseline assessment of learners is conducted, and growth monitoring is carried out on a sample group in order to evaluate the impact of the nutrition programme. PSFA, in collaboration with the Social Services Organisations and local community clinics, identifies community-based caregiver organisations that assist with growth monitoring and the early detection of health concerns.
In June twenty twenty-two, PSFA launched its Growth Monitoring Programme in order to strengthen child nutrition and development outcomes, particularly within Early Childhood Development centres across the Western Cape. This initiative ensures that children not only receive daily nutritious meals, but also have their physical growth and development assessed on a regular basis. This makes it possible to detect malnutrition early and respond appropriately.
Through this programme, children undergo regular growth assessments, including weight, height and Body Mass Index measurements. These assessments allow PSFA and its partners to identify children who may be at risk of undernutrition, stunting or developmental delay. Timely and targeted nutritional support or referral interventions can then be implemented, helping ensure that children are not only fed but are able to thrive during their formative years.
The positive impact of the school feeding programme
PSFA’s school feeding programme generates significant benefits for learners, families and communities, including but not limited to the following:
Improved nutrition. The programme provides nutritious food to learners who may not otherwise have access to a balanced diet. This contributes to better overall health and reduces the risk of malnutrition.
Improved academic performance. Proper nutrition is essential for brain development and cognitive functioning. Studies have shown that students who receive regular meals through school feeding programmes perform better academically than those who do not.
Increased energy and concentration. When learners have access to regular meals, they are better able to concentrate and focus on their studies. This contributes to improved performance in school and can positively influence long-term opportunities.
Improved mental health. Access to regular meals can reduce stress and anxiety associated with hunger, which in turn can contribute positively to children’s emotional well-being.
Support for families and food security. The programme provides reassurance to parents and guardians who may not be able to provide consistent nutritious meals at home, thereby improving food security within the communities served.
Reduction in social problems. Access to reliable nutrition and basic necessities can help reduce vulnerability and exposure to negative coping mechanisms that may arise in situations of extreme hardship.
Stronger community connections. The feeding programme brings people together and contributes to building stronger social connections within communities.
Community empowerment. Volunteer food preparers receive ongoing mentorship and training, strengthening local capacity and participation.
Overall, PSFA’s school feeding programme has a significant positive impact on individuals and communities. By addressing basic needs such as food and nutrition, the programme contributes to improving learners’ health, educational outcomes and overall quality of life.
Funding
PSFA does not rely on grants. Instead, it follows a traditional fundraising model, working with a wide range of supporters, including but not limited to:
Individual donors
Corporate donors
Businesses
Religious organisations
Clubs
Trusts and foundations
Some schools organise fundraising initiatives such as sponsored walks, marathons and twenty-four-hour endurance walks, among other activities.
Grants are often more difficult to secure because they are typically linked to restricted budgets. In many cases, they support the construction of infrastructure or clearly defined projects with visible deliverables. Raising funds for food is therefore often more challenging than raising funds for brick-and-mortar initiatives, even when the social impact of feeding programmes is substantial.
Fortunately, many individuals and organisations remain generous and concerned about children’s development. The people working behind the Peninsula School Feeding Association are also deeply committed. This allowed the organisation to navigate the Covid pandemic and continue delivering meals even when many children were confined at home with limited access to reliable nutrition.
To provide a sense of scale, the cost of providing a child with breakfast and lunch for a full school day is approximately five rand and forty cents. Over an entire school year of one hundred and ninety school days, this represents around one thousand and twenty-six rand, which is approximately sixty-two United States dollars per year.
Blisters for Bread Charity Family Fun Walk
One of the highlights of the Peninsula School Feeding Association and the City of Cape Town’s events calendar is the annual fundraising event Blisters for Bread.
This popular fifty-eight-year-old family event is expected to take place on the sixteenth of August this year. Each year, Blisters for Bread attracts on average more than eight thousand walkers. One hundred per cent of the entry fees from this special event are allocated directly to the school feeding programme.
This year, however, the event faces uncertainty and requires an additional sponsor to secure one point four million rand in order to proceed.
Below is another video that offers a glimpse of this lively and charitable event.
Looking Ahead
The Western Cape Education Department’s National School Nutrition Programme does not include all schools in its feeding programme. PSFA therefore undertakes to secure additional funding in order to support those schools that are not currently covered.
At present, the organisation’s primary objective is to secure funding for the meals provided to the schools and children already included in the programme. If additional fundraising proves successful, new schools may be onboarded. In order to be included, a school generally needs to have a minimum of one hundred and fifty children.
Indigo Earth Foundation Support
Indigo Earth Foundation has chosen to support PSFA by including the organisation within the portfolio of initiatives that the Foundation actively assists. This support focuses on promoting their work, raising awareness of their community programmes, and assisting in securing additional funding.
How you can support this work
Direct support
You may choose to become one of the many generous supporters who contribute through a monthly or yearly donation. Regular support provides the organisation with financial visibility and allows it to plan its activities with greater confidence, including the possibility of supporting additional schools over time.
Please note that donations are allocated directly to the feeding programme.
Every contribution matters.
You may also support the work in other ways:
When visiting Cape Town, contacting us to arrange a visit and gain first-hand insight into the work being carried out on the ground
Participating in the Blisters for Bread event
Awareness and engagement
Support can also take the form of raising awareness, including but not limited to:
Discovering more about the organisation through the Indigo Earth Foundation website
We will have the opportunity to meet the team directly in April, visit the warehouse, observe the distribution of school meals, and visit one of the schools participating in the programme.
Ensuring that children can learn without the burden of hunger is a simple idea, yet one that changes the course of lives.
To learn more, support PSFA, or arrange a visit when in Cape Town, please get in touch with us.
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