The School and Community Gardens Project (GATE)

Mark Miller and PTA Chairman Santiago Pop checking the seed box where plant starts are being grown at Golden Stream village school.

Plenty has received two grants recently, one from the Presbyterian Hunger Program for $8,000 and the other from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for $10,000. Along with the regular support we are receiving from donors who have committed monthly pledges to the project, and other types of donations, these grants should ensure our ability to expand the GATE project according to plan this year.

The objectives of the GATE project are:

• to increase understanding of locally available, low cost, environmentally beneficial, sustainable agricultural practices and organic gardening methods in the Toledo District.
• to help make available a more balanced and nutritious supply of food to schools, families, and communities in the Toledo District.
• to raise awareness of the need for good nutrition, in particular the importance of fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet.
• to assist community members to increase local production of vegetable, fruit, and ground food crops.

The School Feeding Program (SFP)

This year all but one of the 11 SFP schools have gardens, so the idea is catching on. Thanks to the new grants, each of the schools will receive some support - either tools, a solar dryer for vegetables and fruit, or canning equipment, depending upon their needs and interests.

So, as you can see, through the GATE program, we will provide soybeans to the schools that want them for their lunch programs. We also provide support for the cooks to learn how to make and incorporate these high protein foods with traditional meals. The village of Mafredi requested another workshop on soy foods preparation for their new cooks this year. Soy technician Gomier Longville provided this in February.

Nancy Saenz from Mexico is volunteering with us on Tuesdays through the end of the school year. She is working with school cooks, parents, and children, teaching some different vegetable preparations from Mexico.

Plenty Belize is planning an all day "Food Day" event in Laguna Village, on the last Monday in March. This "open house" for the village will showcase the gardens and hands-on organic agriculture methods. Local volunteers and supporters will help by demonstrating ways to cook healthy foods, offering food samples, and discussing the way these activities benefit the environment. This format will consolidate some village education activities that were targeted in GATE this year, as an experimental format. If there is good participation, the format could be replicated at the other schools.

Read previous article on GATE, Winter 2003
Read previous article on the School Feeding Program, Summer 2003
Read next articles on the School Feeding Program and GATE