The official launch of Project Food Farms, a key initiative aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency in Jamaica, took place in Hounslow, South St Elizabeth, with an estimated 4,000 participants from across the island. Prime Minister Michael Manley, who extended a public invitation for a full day of work, actively led by example. Engaging in various agricultural tasks, including hand-forking, spreading fertiliser, operating tractors, and assisting in stone removal, Prime Minister Manley demonstrated his commitment to the food production drive.

Published Friday, January 26, 1972

First of moves toward self-sufficiency in food

PM launches Project Food Farms

Church and State lead 4,000 in turning sod at Hounslow

GLEANER FARM DESK

PROJECT FOOD FARMS, one of the operations by which the Government plans to make the island self-sufficient in food, was officially launched yesterday at Hounslow, South St Elizabeth, with an estimated 4,000 persons from all over the island in attendance and actively participating.

The public had been invited by the Prime Minister, the Hon Michael Manley, to attend the ceremony and to give a full day’s work.”  He himself set an example in this respect that frequently had those nearby worrying as to whether he was not over-exerting.

The prime minister not only hand-forked a sizeable area of ground in the first work-act of the day, but proceeded from there to help spread fertiliser in a field which had already been planted, operated a hand tractor in another field where the soil was being refined, helped pick up and heap stones in another field where the land was being cleared for planting, and helped remove and lay overhead irrigation pipes.

In addition, Manley operated a hand tractor in refining soil that had already been deep-ploughed, and drove a rubber-wheeled Massy-Ferguson 185 tractor in a land-ploughing exercise.

At one time during the day, he went to the rescue of his wife, Beverley Manley, who had been courageously operating a hand tractor of same size and had goten into difficulties in the process. The prime minister not only extricated his Beverley from an awkward position, but helped her to finish her chore.

Forming a significant percentage of the huge attendance were  ministers of government, parliamentary secretaries, members of parliament, senators, mayors of municipalities, parish councillors, chairmen of numerous statutory boards in agriculture, leading administrative and technical officers in the government service, chiefly from the Ministry of Agriculture, farm leaders, schoolteachers, university students, members of 4-H Clubs, and others.

Fifteen plots

Almost without exception, persons possessed themselves with tools where tools were available and sought assignments in the 15 plots (or fields) that had been prepared for the occasion. The fields covered some 250 acres of the 800 acres comprising Hounslow, and qualified observers said at the end of the day that substantial work had been done by the large gathering, notwithstanding that participation had been intended to be largely symbolic.

Work assignments included land-forking, bushing with machetes, fertiliser-spreading, removing stones and building barriers with them, planting, laying overhead irrigation pipes, operating hand tractors, and so on.

The order of the day was that, as people arrived on location, they were handed work tickets to one of the 15 fields.  Each field had its supervisory force and, when a volunteer arrived, he was promptly given a task. Work started precisely at 8 o’clock in the morning, shortly after the arrival of the prime minister, and a luncheon break was taken between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Following the luncheon break, the task force again returned to the jobs and carried through until 4:30 p.m.

A feature of the proceedings was that the day began with a short religious service conducted by the Rev Roy Robinson,  MP, in which Prime Minsiter Manley participated. Following the service, the prime minister gathered around him all those persons who had been assigned to Field 5, where he was to start his operations and, together, they all walked the distance of approximately one mile to this field.

Manley said that it was Jamaican style in the rural areas to walk to work. He thought this an excellent practice that should be followed by everyone in attendance at the ground-breaking.

There was a short speech-making ceremony after lunch, over which the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon Keble Munn presided, and at which the Custos of St Elizabeth, the Hon Spencer Hendricks, welcomed the crowd.

Overjoyed

Delivering the main address of the occasion, the prime minister expressed himself as being "overjoyed and overwhelmed at the fantastic turnout of people from all over the island, and especially from the parish of St Elizabeth."

He said that "as long as the people continue to support programmes of the kind in the way in which they had done, there can be no doubt about the future of the country".

He said that the whole concept behind the food production drive was to bring idle lands into organised production “so that people can get employment and produce the food that they need in order to make us less dependent on imports”.

The arrangements for the day were that those attending and participating should be handed forks, machetes, hoes and other agricultural hand-tools with which to do their job. So unexpectedly large was the attendance, however, implements provided proved insufficient for the occasion, and improvisations had to be made to meet the offers of all those who had come down to do a job of work.

The chief improvisation was the lining up of a score or more of people at a time in a field and having them pick up stones and pass these along the line as the line advanced slowly to the spots where those stones were heaped.

The task appeared simple but it was declared strenuous by many who did it under a broiling sun. Another arrangement for the occasion was that lunch was cooked in a central spot at the entrance to the property, and by a task force specially drafted for this. Provision was made for the feeding of thousands but was not fully utilised as hundreds of participants had taken their own lunch baskets and refreshments.

Morale booster

Qualified observers declared the ground-breaking to be “the greatest morale booster agriculture has had in living memory.” There were others who declared: “This is Labour Day and the spirit of it brought all over again to Hounslow.”

Besides the prime minister, leading government personalities in attendance at the ground-breaking included Mr Munn; the Minister of Industry and Tourism, the Hon. P. J. Patterson; the Minister of Pensions and Social Security, the Hon Howard Cooke: the Minister of State for Regional Affairs, the Hon Sydney Pagon: the Minister of State in Education, the Hon Eli Matalon; the parliamentary secretaries in the Ministry of Agriculture, Messrs A. U. Belinfanti and Desmond Leaky; the parliamenetary secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

Jack Stephenson, MP, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Natural Resources, Robert Saunds; and the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Anthony Capleton.

The majority of these persons worked along with top officers in the government, as well as members of parliament. They  first put in a spell of forking at Field 5 where the prime minister started, and then dispersed over the other fields where they spread fertiliser, planted crops, removed stones, laid irrigation pipes and went through all the different chores.

Among the estimated 4,000 in attendance were hundreds of students from secondary, junior secondary and primary schools. Largely represented were Hampton High School, Munro College, St Elizabeth Technical High School, Newell Junior Secondary, and a number of primary schools nearby. A number of young persons from the 4-H movement, led by the Secretary/Manager Noel B. Walters, and members of youth clubs, also took part in the exercise.

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