Puerto Rico Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés said his department has no official record of complaints about food shortages in public school cafeterias, even though reports have been constant this semester of a principal buying rice, teachers pooling money, and employees bringing bouillon cubes, seasonings and sponges. "I can certify today that there are no schools with a need for food," he said, adding the complaints are not reaching the department.
Nelly Ayala León, president of the School Cafeteria Employees Association, confirmed that the problems the union raised at the start of the school year have been addressed and said she had received no official complaints through Friday. She said local produce such as lettuce, tomato and bananas has been delivered, and that last week’s School Lunch Program Week was marked with creative dishes.
El Nuevo Día received photos of purchases, mostly packages of medium-grain enriched rice, made by a principal in the south for his school’s cafeteria. A local supplier told Radio Isla on Wednesday she would have to suspend deliveries because of late payments. Ramos Parés acknowledged some schools swapped brown rice for pasta, bread or potatoes after the department seized rice packages, and said the department disposed of a rice delivery weeks ago over quality.
He said distribution challenges persist, particularly in mountain areas, and that the department depends on the Agricultural Enterprises Development Administration (ADEA) for produce. He asked any cafeteria employee spending personal money to bring him the matter, saying he does not intend to penalize them. Supplier payment delays, he said, stem from the transition to the government’s new ERP financial system.