Plenty Belize has had a long-standing interest in meeting the challenges of malnutrition in the Toledo District. Michelle Spencer-Yates, as past Coordinator of Plenty Belize was heavily involved in establishing the School Feeding Program (SFP) to help reduce the incidence of child malnutrition in Toledo. In August 2001 we formed a working relationship with seven of the nine participating SFP schools via a pilot project to introduce soy foods into the school lunch menus. Plenty staff and volunteers conducted several training/demonstration sessions for school cooks and teachers, and then visited each school twice to reinforce the new ideas and skills, ensure that the kitchens were adequately equipped, and monitor the reaction of children to the new foods. The soy foods have been accepted with enthusiasm by both the school children and volunteer cooks.

After Hurricane Iris struck in October 2001, the SFP was in jeopardy for various reasons, such as the financial blow suffered by donors to the program, who were largely local agricultural growers. Plenty Belize staff and local SFP members developed a rehabilitation plan for the SFP to improve its chances of becoming more self sufficient, a plan which UNICEF Belize and the Pan American Health Organization agreed to help fund. Equipment provided by UNICEF Belize enabled two new schools to enroll in the program.

Belize resident Barbara Nightingale, an experienced school cook and longtime Plenty supporter, was hired to conduct this year’s training for cooks in nutrition and meal preparation. She made at least three visits to each of eleven schools in the program over the last four months. Remigia Cucul assists Barbara with translation to the Mayan dialect when needed.

The school gardens component of the Program has been very active, developed largely by Peace Corps volunteer Christie Zeoli and long-term Plenty volunteer Mark Miller, both experienced organic gardeners. Early in the year four rural villages (Laguna, Golden Stream, San Jose, and San Pedro Columbia) purchased tools and fencing, selected garden sites and planned their design. The gardens in Laguna and Golden Stream are now well established and showing some great healthy production, especially of calaloo (a leafy green, similar to spinach) and cucumbers. The gardens are producing some vegetables for the school kitchens. Pest problems have arisen, so we purchased sprayers for each school to apply soap and water solutions initially, or other organic compounds. We found that a potion of onions, garlic and habenero peppers sprayed on the plants and insects has been quite effective.

San Pedro Columbia and San Jose were delayed by probems finding suitable garden sites but near the end of the school year both had fenced and planted gardens giving them a head start for the next school year.

San Jose village school garden got a boost from Auxibio Sho, a Ministry of Agriculture extensionist, TCGA member and longtime friend of Plenty Belize. He took the lead in organizing a group of residents to get the fence up, and has agreed to spend half a day each week in the garden.

We were very grateful for the help of Paul Bucciaglia, an experienced organic farmer with a PhD in plant biology, who volunteered for a month in April, and assisted with the gardens component.

We have been working on increasing the involvement of kids in the gardens, and helping to integrate the garden work with the classroom curriculum. Prompted by the donation of tree seedlings by the Belize Botanical Garden and a lesson plan by Trees for the Future, Mark and Christie organized and conducted a lesson for upper level primary school students in 5 communities affected by Hurricane Iris on the benefits of trees to people and the environment, followed by a tree-planting workshop. Each school received about 8 tree seedlings, and the kids were instructed on their proper care and maintenance. In May, Mark and Christie responded to a request from the Laguna village school principal for a special session for students about the elements of a garden, how plants grow, why we need plants, etc. This was a huge success, and the principal is reporting an upsurge of interest in the garden among students.

A key component of this complex project is capacity building. A workshop for the SFP Committee and PTA partners was held on April 5-6. Topics included definition of vision and mission, strategic analysis of the organization, identification of goals and objectives, project planning, and an introduction to proposal writing. An SFP proposal-writing subcommittee was organized. We developed the outlines of a proposal with goals and objectives, and divided among the subcommittee members the task of writing up drafts of different parts of the proposal. Two members have some proposal experience, which is a great asset. Their proposal will focus on increasing the numbers of underprivileged children with access to the meal program by subsidizing costs, and on nutrition education for students, parents, and teachers.

We have also developed a major proposal to continue with and expand the school gardens in the next school year, adding considerable environmental and sustainable agriculture educational activities. We have been busy consulting with participants to include as much local input as possible in the design process.