“Love what you do and do what you love” – this is Stacy Barran’s motto and she has made it a point to live by her motto every day. Forty-one-year-old Barran is the CEO of the National Schools Dietary Services Limited (NSDSL) – more widely known as the School Feeding Programme - a company that provides approximately 98 000 lunches and 58 000 breakfast meals daily to our nation’s children. The mother of one told Womanwise “The future of our society lies in the children of today, therefore, it is important for us to treat them with respect and train them in the way that we want them to go. The values that our parents taught us of honouring our elders (particularly our parents), basic etiquette and manners and the fundamentals of life including the discipline of education and work, must be reinforced in every home. Children are innocent and generally will reflect that which most influences them. My involvement in the School Nutrition Programme presents the perfect opportunity to positively shape the lives of the nation’s children through nutrition. There is a saying, ‘What you eat is who you will become.’”
Barran holds a Masters of Philosophy Degree in Food Production and a Masters of Science in Microbiology in Quality Assurance in Food Production The CEO who also holds international certification and training in ISO 22000:2005 and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) went on to state “The prophet, Kahlil Gibran, in his writings on work has said, “…to love life’s labour is to intimate with life’s innermost secret”. I do see this as a job, but it is a job that I absolutely love and I do see it as where I’m supposed to be and it is my calling. Every morning as I prepare to go to work, I feel contented and fulfilled and at peace knowing deep in my heart this is what I was born to do.” Who or what exactly inspired Barran to get into this field? She related, “My UWI lecturer and mentor, Dr Majeed Mohammed, recommended that I apply for the vacancy of what was then the position of Nutrition Officer and so I did. When I started working for the School Nutrition Programme (which was then under the Ministry of Education) my initial intention was to gain experience for a short period of time and then further my career in Agriculture and Food Safety. However as I became more involved in the Programme, I recognised that we impacted on the lives of many underprivileged children. I felt really fulfilled as I absolutely love children. After 18 years, I am still here. Therefore it is my great love for children that inspired me. I was well-trained and mentored by Ms Ingrid Herrera, a pioneer in the field of school meals service not only locally but in our region.”
While she loves every moment of her job, this mother and wife is posed with challenges. “We have a tight budget to work with and the rise in the cost of food and cost of living present a challenge to ensure that our meals meet the Programme’s nutritional goals. Thankfully, I have an excellent, hard working and dedicated team that makes my job much easier.” So what are the advantages of her job? The CEO admitted, “Oh, they are tremendous! Firstly, the position of a CEO commands great respect, authority and influence. As I said earlier, it gives me great joy and a sense of fulfillment that I can help so many children in one of the most basic areas of need- that is to have at least one healthy meal a day during the school term. This impact is seen in reported low school attendance when meals are not served. The other advantage is that I have the ability to empower women like myself.” “Our Programme contracts the service of 74 caterers of which 75 percent are women. In addition, 80 percent of the staff (in these kitchens) is also women. In total, we provide an income to over 1000 women nationwide. That being said, these women come from varying backgrounds of education and social standings. Some started off with little or no knowledge in commercial food preparation. With the intervention of our last CEO, Ms Ingrid Herrera, many of them can now boast of certificates in Food Preparation, Food Safety and Management. Our caterers can stand anywhere and be proud of what they do. They are proud business owners which positively influence their community.”
Barran remains focused on the objectives of the School Nutrition Programme. One of the objectives of the programme is “To contribute to the improvement of the nutritional status of the child and to enhance learning ability.” As a result the NSDSL has joined with the Ministry of Education in campaigning against peer violence in the form of bullying. This project has taken into consideration the theme for Universal Children’s Day 2013 - ‘Stop Violence against Children’ which focuses on the move to eradicate the mental, sexual and physical abuse against children around the world. Barran said, “The NSDSL believes that healthy eating promotes a healthy mind and healthy minds with proper guidance ensures that negative actions including bullying and other forms of violence, are not supported.
Barran, who has been in the position of CEO for just over a year, does not only meet challenges at work. She has to balance being a career woman, mother and wife. Her day starts at 5am with prayer. She insisted “I always put God first in everything I do. I start my day with prayer, asking for God’s guidance as I undertake this great responsibility of feeding the nation’s children.”
Asked about her future plans for the company the CEO said “I do not do this alone. My strategic direction and guidance comes from our Board of Directors. We have a very dynamic Chairperson, Dr. Andy Ali, whose ideas to take the company forward are unending.” She then continued “Our major plan is to steer the company into the direction of becoming self-sufficient so that we will become less dependent on the Government’s subventions. Two avenues that we are looking to generate revenue are giving suppliers advertising space on our meal boxes and implementing the Whole School Approach to meal service. The Whole School Approach offers a three tiered system to meals services which means that there will be the option where students who can afford the meals can either fully or partially pay for school meals.”
