The Rural Transformation Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Transformation, Forestry, Fisheries, Industry and Labour along with other agencies of the Government is in the process of implementing an FAO/Brazilian Government Funded Sustainable School Feeding Project.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently joined other Caribbean countries in implementing the project which has been very successful in Brazil and is now being adapted in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The programme comprises of eleven components. However, only six are currently implemented in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
It includes modules such as: The inter-sectorial articulation which involves the setting up of the inter-ministerial committee, comprising of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economic Planning, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Ministry of National Mobilization; Nutrition Education through School gardening which is still in the conceptual stage; and Nutrition assessment of students.
Over 400 students were assessed in June 2017 and are now being analyzed to develop a Nutritional Assessment Plan for the schools and parents.
There is also a module on Linking of family farm, which will ensure that locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables are used in the school’s kitchen and are consumed by students, as well as food and nutrition training workshops.
The Ministry of Agriculture said on its Facebook page that the project is being implemented in three Pilot Schools (Buccament, Diamonds and Brighton Methodist School). Recently Food and Nutrition Training was conducted for cooks in the various schools by the Nutrition Consultant.
