The minister of Agriculture and Lands (MAT) Arnoldo Márquez informed that the first one thousand Feeding Houses are in the municipalities of Libertador and Sucre and in the rest of Gran Caracas (metropolitan area and its surroundings), and indicated that these houses were built with resources from the Special Petroleum Fund for the people. “It is part of the purpose of Misión Mercal (a governmental mission for the construction and administration of a network of markets for the provision of food at minimum cost), production of the most important items, on time, with good quality, and at low interest rates” , he said.

The president of Mercal, Jorge Rodríguez Torres, indicated that his enterprise would distribute 680 metric tons of food items that belong to the “ basic basket” (an official parameter of the minimum goods and services necessary for a family of four members), to the one thousand Food Houses that the Venezuelan government has inaugurated.

From now on, inhabitants in these communities who don’t possess the means to feed adequately, can come to these houses, where they can have lunch and a snack. “Each house is run by five people trained in food handling and hygiene by the Army and Navy Logistics Service”, he said.

Mercal will provide these Feeding Houses with items like chicken, black beans, precooked corn flour, sardines, sugar, rice, cooking oil, pasta, margarine, cheese, etc. ; that is, all the food items with the necessary calories for a balanced diet.

The president of Proal, Rosángela Suárez explained that this program began successfully with 100 experimental Feeding Houses in the Libertador and Sucre municipalities, and that now there are 600 in Libertador and 400 in Sucre. “The main actors in this program are the members of the communities themselves, who voluntarily cook two daily meals, a lunch and a snack, for 150 needy people that had been unassisted in the nutritional part”, she said.

She pointed out that this mission is part of what Chávez has called Misión Mercal, that seeks to aid the poorest. “Although this program is only operating in Caracas, our projections are 4000 houses nationwide”.

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