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TAOA says federal grantor pleased with food plate

Despite public complaints from senior citizens after Tuesday’s launch of the cooked food program, the Territorial Administration on Aging official in charge of the food program claims that the federal grantor is pleased with the menu on the food plate, after the grantor saw a picture of the plate posted on Samoa News online.

 

Tafia Taimalelagi, the TAOA program coordinator, was responding to Samoa News questions at the Matu’u distribution center for the cooked food program. It was at the Matu’u center where seniors complained that they only had two-meatballs on their plates Tuesday, while centers on the Eastern side had six meatballs, and the Western district had three. All plates also came with a scoop of rice, boiled cabbage and half an orange.

 

The photos on Samoa News Facebook page, and published in the print edition along with the online story, were taken at the Pago Pago center, where many seniors complained about the small amount of food. Still others complained about being served meatballs.

 

During a Samoa News interview yesterday, Taimalelagi said that she received an email from the federal grantor praising and thanking TAOA for the well prepared food plates for the first day of the program and she said the federal grantor was very pleased.

 

She then apologized to all seniors if the TAOA’s service on the first day of the cooked food program was not in accordance with the community’s liking, but explained that there is already an approved menu for the program, which replaces the food vouchers.

 

She also said that she believes that information provided by some TAOA staff to the news media resulted in many complaints dealing with the number of days for food distribution. (Samoa News had been told several times by TAOA staff that food distribution is twice a month).

 

Taimalelagi confirmed that distribution of food plates is twice a week, not twice a month. (See yesterday’s edition on Samoa News interview with TAOA director Tifimalae Ale.)

 

YESTERDAY’S FOOD PLATE

 

Yesterday was the second day of the cooked food distribution at 14 centers territory-wide. The menu for yesterday consisted of two pieces of boneless chicken, a scoop of rice, cooked veggies, and half an orange. It also comes with a small bottle of water for all meals.

 

Unlike Tuesday when Samoa News received so many complaints from senior citizens or their families, yesterday there was only one complaint received by the newsroom when a senior — who received the plate at the Pago Pago center — showed up at the Samoa News office saying that the food was not enough for any senior to last the whole day, and there should be more food items on each plate along with “real Samoan food”.

 

At the Matu’u center, the seniors there appeared very happy and pleased with the food plate. “Today’s food plate is good and I hope that future ones are also good. If the food is good, then the body is good,” said one senior, who declined to give her name.

 

Taimalelagi said one of the reasons for the change in the program — is for seniors to come together at the center to talk and share stories and discuss issues of interest to them as well as engage in other social activities such as card games or bingo.

 

At the Matu’u center, there was one male senior who played the guitar and there was also a brief bingo game, for fun.

 

When asked about the menu for each distribution day, Taimalelagi said it's the same for all 14 centers. For example, all centers got the same type of food items on their plates yesterday. “It's a different menu for every day that we distribute the food,” she explained.

 

Some seniors at the Pago Pago center on Tuesday complained about the way the TAOA staff was handling the distribution of food plates, as they were being brought in the beds of pick- up trucks.

 

Taimalelagi responded that all TAOA staff involved in the food program have been trained and told to wear the same uniform. Additionally, they are to wear hairnets and aprons. Furthermore, she said everyone is to be clean at all times.

 

She also said that TAOA will review with vendors the issue of food being delivered to centers in the beds of pick-up trucks.

 

REGISTRATION CLOSED

 

At the Pago Pago center on Tuesday, some seniors — including one who came from Fagasa village —  were told by TAOA staff that they could not receive food plates because they didn’t register in advance, and this was made clear by TAOA prior to the start of the cooked food program, through the media.

 

Taimalelagi says that while TAOA staff was right — that only registered seniors would receive food plates — supervisors for centers should consider the traditional Samoan way of respect and still offer the unregistered seniors a food plate.

 

For example, on Tuesday at the Matu’u center, there was a case of one senior who travelled a long way for the plate lunch but the individual was not registered, said Taimalelagi, adding that the senior was provided the explanation about the need to register and then still offered a plate to take home.

 

According to the TAOA official a total of 2,025 seniors have already registered for the cooked food program for the next six months, which ends in November. Thereafter the registration will re-open again allowing those who didn’t register to do so.

 

(Original Samoan story is published in today’s Lali section of Samoa News)