More local fruits, vegetables for School Feeding Programme

Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Audley Shaw says the Government has taken action to increase the variety of local fresh fruits and vegetables under the national School Feeding Programme.

He said the programme’s ­budgetary allocation was ­increased to $4.7 billion for the 2018-19 fiscal year, an increase of 47 per cent.

Speaking at the official launch of ‘Mission Food Possible’ at St John’s Primary School in St Catherine last week, Shaw said the undertaking is a collaborative effort between his ministry and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

SUPPORTIVE ROLE

Support for the programme is also being provided through ­initiatives from the Ministry of Health to encourage better ­eating habits, as well as motivating ­students to exercise more.

“My ministry is expected to play a supportive role in the ­production and supply logistics of primary and secondary products. We can all agree that our School Feeding ­Programme has the ­ability to ­improve the health and ­education of our children, while supporting our farmers and our local ­economy,” Shaw said.

“Our mission is to promote proper nutrition and improve the learning outcomes of our children, as well as to strengthen early-childhood development, in ­keeping with the food and ­nutrition security policy, the draft school-feeding policy and the Jamaica social protection ­strategy,” the minister added.

Shaw said Jamaica must move away from the ­importation of genetically modified food to the consumption and ­utilisation of more locally grown foods, which will lead to a better life for all.

He argued that the launching of the Mission Food Possible initiative represents the perfect opportunity to teach children to “eat what we grow,” an initiative proposed in the 1970s by then Prime Minister Michael Manley.

Shaw said he intends to work with New York-based Jamaican Chef Peter Ivey, who ­conceptualised and founded the initiative, to have it rolled out in schools across the island.

First executed in St Catherine in October 2017, Mission Food Possible fed approximately 700 people.

The initiative, which seeks to ­combat global hunger and food insecurity by using locally grown products to make creative, nutritious and low-budget meals, also led to the training of staff, parents and teachers at St John’s Primary School.

Ivey explained that his ­initiative is undergirded by a personal mission to feed people who are in need.

Principal of the school, Louise Clarke, described the initiative as “awesome,” noting that it has the support of the school community and board.

‘We can all agree that our School Feeding Programme has the ability to ­improve the health and education of our children, while supporting our farmers and our local economy.’