Carib Agri knowledge-sharing sessions on School Feeding Programmes extended until Friday 11 December
Dear Subscribers,
Thanks to those who participated thus far in the discussions on School Feeding Programmes in the Caribbean. The discussion ends this Friday, 11 December.
Please see below today’s Digest of all of the contributions we’ve received. Remember that you can share your perspective by sending your message to [log in to unmask] or to [log in to unmask] .
Here are the questions for the discussion:
1. How can the School Feeding Programme (SFP) contribute to the promotion of healthy eating habits in the Caribbean?
2. How can different ministries of government better coordinate their efforts to strengthen SFPs in the Caribbean?
3. How can SFPs benefit local production and trade in the Caribbean?
4. How can the SFP contribute to the realization of the Human Right to Food and Food and Nutrition Security in the Caribbean?
From: Dr Deep Ford, UN FAO Coordinator for the Caribbean
Two dimensions of the new approach to School Feeding being promoted by FAO emphasize a) school feeding as a means of promoting long life food choices characterized by decision making that pays attention to consuming healthy and nutritious foods and b) school feeding programs that promote increased consumption of healthy and nutritious local foods, where possible linked to farmers and backyard garden producers in the community where the school is located. In addition to the supply of the healthy local product meal at lunch time and interventions such as nutrition education and promotion of public purchasing of local products, what other interventions/activities can we engage in for increased success in this effort ?
J.R. Deep Ford
UN FAO Coordinator -- Caribbean Region
Representative Barbados and OECS
United Nations House, Barbados
email: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask];[log in to unmask]
Tel: 246-426-7110 (o);246-231-5735(c) Skype: JRDeep2
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Replies to Dr Ford’s comment:
From: Karen Sutherland of Roots Farm Organic Produce:
Can make basics of growing and preparing nutritious food without using poisons part of curriculum and have school-feeding gardens, including some of the newer urban and vertical gardening techniques for places with little/no available land. Can frame engagements where the “experts” actually LISTEN to the people to be affected and incorporate them and their ideas into the visioning, planning and operation of such (hopefully) diverse projects that would be supported/sustained locally because local people invested in goals & outcomes.
Karen Sutherland
Roots Farm Organic Produce
Fruits, Roots, Vegetables & Herbs
Cochrane, DOMINICA
767-449-3038 (before 7 P.M.)
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From: Dr. Sylvia Adjoa Mitchell, Lecturer, Medicinal Plant Research Group, The Biotechnology Centre, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica
Dissemination and use of local herbs and spices, nutraceuticals and medicinal plants like moringa, purslane, noni, aloe, lemon grass, lime.
Dr. Sylvia Adjoa Mitchell,
Lecturer, Medicinal Plant Research Group
The Biotechnology Centre
University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica
876-977-3331(fax), 977-1828(O), 935-8519-21(W), 580-0412 (digi), 545-2646 (lime)
"Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, Will of God." Romans 12.2
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From: Wendel Parham
Deep,
You could add a third dimension - School Gardening as part of the curriculum/school activity to teach the students to appreciate agriculture and to learn to produce those healthy, nutritious foods which the School Feeding Program is promoting.
Wendel
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From: Michael Gaspard Andrew, Natural Resource Management Consultant, La Haut, Mon Repos, Micoud, Saint Lucia
Greetings and thanks for making part of the very interesting and exciting program of work.
I strongly support this program of work and view it as a step in the right direction. For too long now, many infants and children have been leaving the homes on a daily basis on an empty or partially full stomach, and by mid morning they feel pain and lack focus at the very important school activities.
Looking forward to my active participation where possible.
HAVE A BLESSED DAY.
Michael Gaspard Andrew
Natural Resource Management Consultant
La Haut, Mon Repos, Micoud, Saint Lucia
Mobile one #: 758-5207065
Mobile two #: 758-7247982
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From: Moderator, Carib Agri LISTSERV
Please contribute to this discussion by responding to [log in to unmask] or to [log in to unmask]. We welcome your perspective on the topic.
Some of the contributors suggested that school gardens should be included as a component school feeding programme. Yet, school gardens do exist in many Caribbean primary and secondary schools, with some gardens harshly criticized as “too ornamental” . Other critics opine that they serve no real purpose other than having aesthetic value. Agricultural Sciences have also been removed from the school curriculum of some schools.
Are there any best practices across the region that highlight the successful incorporation of school gardens, or even community gardens, into the feeding programme?
Likewise, are there any positive stories that demonstrate how primary and secondary schools are linking nutritional and health education and plant awareness into the school feeding programme?
Your thoughts on these questions?
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From: Dr Anthony Kellman, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, FAO SLC Office
The School Feeding Programme can serve as a learning tool to introduce the students to the eating local and healthy foods. In today’s society where most of the food consumed by the young is introduced to them in a plastic packet, introducing them to the science and art of production at an early age could stimulate these young and developing minds to the concept of producing to supply their needs.
The apparent lack of collaboration between the Ministries of Education, Agriculture and Health need to be addressed in order to fill the gaps between “ local” food and food production and its contribution to health and healthy lifestyles and getting these messages into the Educational System (School Feeding Programme). For the benefit and health of our future generations, let’s stop the talk. The time for action is now.
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From: Candice Ramessar, Homeschooler, Environmentalist and Development Specialist, Mahaica, Guyana
The school gardens can form part of the practicals for the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) imitative that many education ministries are adopting.
In addition, initiatives in the US have shown that in cases where students play a role in the production of their food in the food school programs that there is less food wastage by students. It is therefore a great way to teach students sustainability.
Candice Ramessar
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From: Francis Lopez, Head of Department, Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, The University of the West Indies
I am all for expanding the source and use of local produce in the SFP. Targets need to be set with regard to the proportion of the food that must be obtained from local farmers. These targets can be small at first and can be increased as local production increases and becomes more coordinated. Perhaps we can also set targets for the use of organic produce in the SFP, again we start with a small target and increase as needed. This will favour some of our small farmers and send the right signals to students and the population on the importance of environmental and sustainability issues in agriculture. Encouragement of organic production in school gardens can be considered, which will help to demonstrate the linkages between production and the environment.
Francis Lopez
Head of Department, Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, BB11000, Barbados
Office: 1246 417 4345, Cell: 1246 233 2754
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From: Chemora Mc Knee (Ms.), Intern, Ministry of Agriculture, Richmond Hill, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
I recently read a case study about a project in St Lucia called Helping Out Our Primary & Secondary Schools (HOOPSS), that exposes school children to agriculture as a way of opening up possible career opportunities while at the same time combating food insecurity and high import costs. The produce grown by the children goes into Primary School Feeding Programmes and the fruits and vegetables from the school farms are also sold to restaurants, hotels and local supermarkets.
What seems to be their strength is the link that has been created between school farms and the private sector to help generate income and to ensure sustainability of the project. St Lucia Agricultural Forum for Youth (SLAFY) is pressing for a percentage of the profits to be shared amongst the pupils. The money would be deposited in a savings account and be accessed upon completion of their secondary schooling with hopes that the students invest their savings in agribusinesses or furthering their education.
Chemora Mc Knee (Ms.)
Intern
Ministry of Agriculture
Richmond Hill, Kingstown
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Tel: (784) 531-5371
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From: Vyjayanthi F Lopez, Plant Production and Protection Officer, FAO Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean (FAO-SLC), Barbados
I agree with Wendell Parham. For family/backyard farmers and particularly for school gardens - the focus should on sustainable production: adoption of good agricultural practices and environmentally-friendly methods for crop and pest management. Cultural practices such as field sanitation, production and use of organic compost for soil amelioration, mixed / inter-cropping and crop rotation should all be promoted as part of sustainability. And there is a close and direct link between fresh, good quality produce and nutrition. All of this and more can be found in the Manual – A Vegetable Garden for All (5th Edition) (FAO, 2014) – which combines horticultural production with nutrition and which has been adapted for home and school gardeners in the Caribbean. The Manual is available for download and use, free of cost - http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3556e/i3556e.pdf
Regards
Vyju
Vyjayanthi F Lopez
Plant Production and Protection Officer
FAO Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean (FAO-SLC)
Barbados
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From: Ms Juanita James, Chief Nutrition Officer, Ministry of Health, Antigua and Barbuda
SFPs offer such a great opportunity for integrated efforts to address several issues – improving nutrition and health, promoting life-long healthy eating habits, social protection, increasing local food production creating markets for locally produced foods directly to the SFP but also long term by promoting a demand for local foods outside the school setting and increasing income generating opportunities. Yet somehow this integrated approach has not been realized in most of our SFPs. I think technicians have worked and will work together if systems/structures are established to facilitate a more integrated approach and if all this happens within a policy framework. There are sometimes informal links that work well but they may not be sustained when there are staff changes or changes in administration. We have to advocate for improved governance and management and for other --sources of funding especially since in some cases budgets for SFPs are being cut even when programmes are being expanded.
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From: Govind Seeparsad
Hi, I am in agreement with Dr Ford.
What will be critical will be regularity of supplies and and volumes that can make this work in a sustainable way. Maybe we will need to look at the rice model of Guyana and the citrus and banana models of Belize; and yams of Jamaica and see whether it can be replicated for other crops that are targeted for the plate. Costs of inputs often drive food caterers to use the cheapest next best input.
Govind
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From: Owolabi Elabanjo, Agriculture Extension Officer, Antigua and Barbuda
Dear Colleagues,
It is very important not to forget the save and grow concept of our food security and nutrition. This will greatly assist in the SFP program when working with small scale farmers , family farmers and the school garden. Also, at the school garden system our choice of the typologies must be very simple and easy for the children to work with. In Antigua and Barbuda, we are focusing on the typologies to make the gardening interesting and easy to maintain by the school children themselves and also to be used as teaching or educational tool. In Antigua and Barbuda , we have been able to introduce simple short crops because of the school systems. There is more need for collaboration from other ministries such as Education , Health , Social Transformation and Finance to make things work.
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From : Melinda Mills, Barbados
I agree with Dr. Kellman, although I would like to see the dialogue continue.
Despite all the programmes sponsored by FAO and other regional and local organizations, one can still see that nutrition education is woefully lacking. Just look at what is sold by vendors on school compounds and even inside some hospitals, for example.
There are children who do not even know the names of healthy root crops and some fruits (many of which are left to waste, e.g. pomegranates). Their parents are interested in what is ready to be consumed and not necessarily the nutrient content. We have to get back to sensible planning, purchasing and slow food.
Good to see the discussions going again. Greetings and best wishes to all!
Melinda Mills
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From: Julius Ross
Deep, and in addition please let us consider the institutionalization of a system/ mechanism of resourcing and maintaining the activity, of course with good governance, when FAO's resources have been "used up". One size will not fit all and the country or location specifics, peculiarities and arrangements will come out at this level. A healthy mix of private and public sector contributions and commitments can be a good start which can possibly lead to a more tightly designated entity that will provide overall national management etc.
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From: Elbert Johnson - Agri business Consultant
A school feeding program is the ideal vehicle to drive nutrition and local consumption. The need for formal linkages is inevitable. Nutrition education and PR must be used to encourage acceptance and consumption by the children at school and home. A sustainable and profitable supply of a targeted amount of local supply is imperative for it to work. This must be done with an organised group of certified producers. This all points to a unit to coordinate all the actors in the chain.
Very good project.
Elbert Johnson
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New comments from G Deslyn, Joshua, Juanita James and Jorge O’Ryan
From: G. Deslyn R, St. Kitts-Nevis
Good day,
Question 1: have the children contribute ideas after encouraged to watch certain television channels such as Food Network, History, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Point the students to the specific shows (and movies) which promote the habits being targeted. Have students submit recipes. Have students re-inforce in Science lab classes, HomeEc and Food and Nutrition Sessions, Other Kitchen related expository writing activities, et cetera. Review " Cooking Magic" by Gwen Tong of Antigua/Barbuda of yesteryear - check how we can adapt, modify and incorporate. Encourage open class discussions after movie is watched at home, in school, at church: have list of questions ready to engage students purposeful viewing.
Have students transfer their Principles Of Business, Commerce, Principles of Accounts, Economics, and other related entrepreneurship/business subjects as to how eating healthily can earn income and improve their standard of living (fitness trainer, recipe creation, cook show hosts and judge, etc, etc).
Have students use drama and theatre arts to convey the differences and similarities of yesteryear eating habits and today's. Debate and encourage research and comparison for essay writing and such assignments for English, Communication Studies, Social Studies and such. Use role play and simulations with case studies, use story telling with vivid characters, use carnival-like costumes in school and community concerts and festivities to "sexy" up the eating healthy thrust.
G. Deslyn R
St. Kitts-Nevis
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From: Joshua
All school feeding programs should use locally produced products where it is available imagine the impact for the local economy and local farmers. similar to usa federal programs
Joshua
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From: Juanita James, Antigua and Barbuda, Chief Nutrition Officer, Ministry of Health, Antigua and Barbuda
The school garden is a very practical way to teach Food and Nutrition. I also believe that food demonstrations and taste testing can help students to get to know and appreciate local foods . The infusion of Healthy Lifestyle concepts into different subject areas is an approach which I think can work. This has been introduced in primary schools in Antigua and Barbuda - e.g at one primary school an integrated Curriculum was introduced this past term and the theme was Healthy Eating Healthy Living so that there is an interdisciplinary and very practical approach to teaching. This has been attempted before but has not been sustained.
Agricultural Science is offered in most Secondary Schools but currently it is left up to the primary schools to decide whether or not they will have a school garden and how it will be used. Again this speaks to the need for policy.
Beyond a school feeding policy there needs to be policy and regulations on what Food and Drinks/Snacks are sold in the school setting as well as an overall supportive environment for healthy living. PAHO is working with the Ministry of Health in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to develop School Nutrition policies vs just a school feeding policy.
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From: Jorge O’Ryan, Governance and Food Security Officer, FAO SLC,
Jorge shares perspective on the St Lucia SFP pilot project:
We appreciate very much your participation in this blog. You’ve submitted very relevant and pertinent comments.
I wanted to emphasize the role of governance and intersectorial collaboration for addressing a sustainable school feeding programme at a country level.
It is important to understand that the SFP addresses multidimensional challenges, such as nutritional, environmental, social, cultural, among other challenges. Therefore, the SFP needs to be broadly approached. This means that coordination and articulation within different government sectors is critical.
Special relevance is played by the ministries of education, health and agriculture, but the role of the other public sectors, such as finance and social development are also critical. A common vision and synergy amongst all of these sectors are necessary for the successful programme development of the SFP. This could integrate a holistic perspective in order to better address the challenge of guaranteeing a sustainable school feeding programme.
But the real difference in achieving a sustainable SFP will ultimately be made by social participation. Community appropriation and stakeholders’ empowerment is probably the main pillar for ensuring great improvements in this regard.
In 2015, a pilot experience took place in Saint Lucia, which brought together different dimensions of governance for FNS, and which reflected the real opportunity for analyzing a successful experience in the Caribbean. Countries in the Region could obtain some useful lessons and best practices from this experience.
In this regard, I wanted to highlight the following elements that were addressed in the St Lucia Pilot programme.
1. Intersectorial collaboration, among different ministries and private sector, consisted of a committee, which gathered periodically to follow up on the implementation process.
2. Social participation, engaging principals of schools, PTAs, and the entire school community, with engagement of the entire community (especially in the rural area).
3. Nutritional education, with an important role on school gardens.
4. Study on the nutritional status of children, both for developing a nutritional plan that suits the needs of the programme at a community level and also to evaluate the impact of the programme.
5. Improvement of school infrastructure, where food storage, preparation and delivery ensures the social aspects that a healthy meal need to incorporate.
6. Public purchase from family farmers, including the provision of opportunities for local farmers, while ensuring eating habits are contributing to the creation of a sustainable food system for the nation.
Following the success of the Saint Lucia experience, five more countries are planning to take part on national pilots for Sustainable School Feeding Programme.
Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will follow the experience of Saint Lucia in 2016 to strengthen School feeding programmes in the Caribbean.
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From: Moderator, Carib Agri LISTSERV @ Jorge O’Ryan:
1. How exactly was the nutritional component addressed in the St Lucia pilot project?
2. What percentage of public purchases from family farmers was attained?
3. Can you summarise the best practices of this pilot project?
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Continue to share your perspectives on school feeding programmes in the Caribbean. The discussion ends on Friday, 11 December, 2015.
Carib-Agri Moderator
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean
