Balanced Meal Preparation
Senior 2 · Home Science
Balanced Meal Preparation
Lesson 2 of 4
18 min
Let's begin
A common Rwandan plate is piled high with sweet potato, matoke or ugali, with a small spoon of beans on the side. It is filling and cheap, but it is mostly starch. Changing the proportions, without spending more, can turn the same foods into a balanced meal.
A balanced meal contains foods from all the food groups in the right proportions for the person eating it. In this lesson you will learn a simple plate model and use it to build balanced plates from foods found in any Rwandan market.
Imagine the plate divided into parts:
Use less salt and sugar, and avoid sugary drinks. Always use iodised salt.
Plate: a large heap of boiled cassava, a large heap of ugali and a small spoon of beans.
Analysis: cassava and ugali are both energy-giving foods, so about 90% of the plate is starch. There is a little protein (beans) and no protective food at all.
Improvement: keep one starchy food (ugali) and cut it to a quarter of the plate; give a quarter of the plate to beans; fill the other half with isombe and a tomato and avocado salad; finish with a piece of pawpaw. The cost hardly changes, because the second starch is replaced by vegetables.
Task: Plan a balanced supper for a family of four using beans, sweet potato, amaranth, tomatoes, onion, avocado and milk.
| Part of plate | Food | Food group |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter | Boiled orange-fleshed sweet potato | Energy-giving |
| Quarter | Beans stewed with onion and tomato | Body-building |
| Half | Amaranth fried lightly with onion; sliced avocado and tomato | Protective |
| Drink | A cup of boiled milk (or safe water) | Body-building, fluid |
Every food group is present, the colours are varied (orange, brown, green, red), and the textures are varied (soft potato, creamy avocado, firm beans). Colour and texture variety make a meal more attractive as well as more nourishing.
Tip
Memory hook: "Half green, quarter grow, quarter go". Half the plate vegetables and fruit, a quarter protein, a quarter starch.
Exam technique: when asked to "improve" a meal, first say which food group is missing or too large, then name a specific food that fixes it.
What fraction of a balanced plate should be vegetables and fruit?
Solution: One half.
Keza's lunch is rice, chips and a soda. Name two problems and suggest improvements.
Solution: There are two starchy foods and no protein or protective food, and the soda adds sugar. Replace the chips with beans or fish, add a vegetable (cabbage or amaranth) and fruit, and drink water or milk instead of soda.
Which food in this meal is the body-building food: matoke, groundnut sauce, cabbage salad?
Solution: Groundnut sauce (groundnuts are rich in protein and fat).
Give two reasons why a varied range of colours on a plate is a good sign.
Solution: Different coloured vegetables and fruits supply different vitamins and minerals, and a colourful plate looks more appetising, so people eat it with more enjoyment.
Summary
Sources and credits
The plate model explanation, worked examples and practice questions are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
