#Montego Bay, November 18, 2019 – Jamaica – Over 2,000 acres of farmland on the Holland Estate in St. Elizabeth have been purposed to grow produce for the school breakfast programme for students that is being revitalized across the parish.
Minister
without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and
Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, made the announcement during the Eat Jamaican
School Tour at Holland Primary School on Friday (November 15).
“We have
taken all of that [land] out of cane… and small farmers are now planting various
types of cash crops there. That is one of the main areas where we are going to
be getting most of our food from,” the Minister said.
Mr. Hutchinson indicated that the initiative will be piloted at Holland Primary School and subsequently introduced to other institutions.
“So today’s [(November 15) event aims] to educate the students here and the wider community we are going to be assisting in providing local food within the schools for the children. We have seen the benefits. It has been proven that it helps the children in their attendance and also helps them with their grades,” he further stated.
The
breakfast programme will also include the provision of nutritious juices derived
from locally-grown fruits.
Mr.
Hutchinson also toured the school garden for which he previously donated a drip
irrigation system to encourage farming, and assisted in preparing some of the
meals that were served to the students on Friday.
“We want to
let the children here and the wider Jamaica know that we would like to see them
eating more local food. [Also], we are trying to educate the children that whenever
they are buying, we want them to buy local,” he stated.
The tour
was one of several activities to mark Eat Jamaican Month during November. It
was jointly organised with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA)
and Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).
Principal
of Holland Primary School, Simone Doctor, told JIS News that between 80 to 120
students at the institution are fed under the breakfast programme daily. She said the school consistently advocates the
incorporation of locally grown produce into the ingredients used to prepare
meals for the students, noting that this prompted the garden’s establishment in
2014.
“It (breakfast
programme) is a good initiative… and the Minister coming here to actually be a
chef, cooking the food on the spot and demonstrating to the children using
local food, was excellent,” Mrs. Doctor further said.
Contact: Okoye Henry
Release: JIS