Students champion food security

The caring and passing along of these plants by the pupils –all members of their school’s 4-H club, mimicked the Olympic Torch relay and ended with a tree-planting ceremony.

The first tree was planted at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Port-of- Spain last Wednesday.

A second planting is scheduled for the Scarborough Botanical Garden next month.

The seven schools based in Trinidad that took part in the initiative were represented at the ceremony. Representatives from Massy Stores, the World Food Day National Committee of Trinidad and Tobago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the National 4-H Council and the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries were also in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Sen Clarence Rambharat signalled the importance of the Run for Food initiative stating that it would “bring people closer to the producers of their food,” a media release stated.

Established in 2016 by Massy Stores and the World Food Day National Committee of the ministry, Run for Food has already helped raised local awareness for food sustainability during its one-year existence, the release said.

“Last year we created quite a stir when we announced that that there was $100 million in business for local farmers just from Massy Stores alone. The truth is in 2015 we sold $67 million in local produce (fruits and vegetables) and with import substitution and a closer relationship with our local farmers we forecasted that the produce category will grow to $100 million,” said Derek Winford, CEO of Massy Stores.

“In a declining economy where retail sales are down by as much as 15 percent we [Massy Stores] saw $5 million in growth from goods supplied to us by the local farming community.” The tree-planting exercise was a precursor to the Run for Food Charity 5K, which took place last Saturday at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain.

As with the previous year, the public was invited to participate in the run by contributing $60, which will be donated to Feel (Foundation for the Enhancement & Enrichment of Life) and United Way Trinidad and Tobago.

“I encourage the nation to support our local farmers and food sustainability,” said Deokee Bholasingh- Hay, chair of the World Food Day National Committee.

On the tree-planting exercise Bholasingh- Hay said: “We are trying to educate children about the indigenous fruit. Each year we target different schools for the exercise and I encourage them to share the knowledge gained.”