Media Representation of Free Nutritious Meals in Indonesia: Business Agenda and Patronage Politics

The Free Nutritious Meals Program / Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG), which is a priority program of the Prabowo-Gibran government, provides free lunch for school children, toddlers, pregnant women, and the elderly. The government allocates a budget of approximately USD 0.50 to 0.60 per individual per day to ensure that each beneficiary receives nutritious food[i]. President Prabowo Subianto frequently discussed MBG during his presidential campaign and debates. Since his inauguration and until February 2026, he has mentioned the success of MBG about 146 times in approximately 70 of his speeches (Irfani, 2026). As a government priority agenda, this feeding program aims to improve human resource quality through balanced nutrition and address malnutrition and stunted growth rates. The program seeks to reduce healthcare burdens, and stimulate the local economy. Unfortunately, the nutrition program was marred by cases of food poisoning, In January 2026 alone, the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network recorded 1,242 cases of suspected food poisoning related to MBG, bringing the total number of poisoning cases since 2025 to 21,245 (Pasaribu, 2026). [i] With the exchange rate of the US dollar at approximately 16,970 IDR per 1 USD, the budget amounts to only about half a dollar for nutritious food