Newell High gets massive boost with school garden initiative
Published:Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12:10 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Newell High Principal Audrey Ellington has embraced the Ministry of Agriculture’s move to expand its school garden programme to her St Elizabeth-based institution, in a move to boost the ability of schools to feed themselves and strengthen the island’s food security.
“We are seated right in the farming community and a number of our students do agriculture at home. So this will benefit them and their families more, so we are very thankful for it,” Ellington told The Gleaner on Thursday.
Newell High, which is located in Watchwell in the Breadbasket Parish, was used to kick-start the expansion of the school garden programme on Thursday, which was observed as World Food Day under the theme ‘Water is Life, Water is Food, Leave No One Behind’.
The majority of students who participate in farming lessons at the school are in grades 7 to 9, with some senior students pursuing it at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination level.
Ellington said that her school farm now has layer and broiler chickens, as well as a variety of cash crops, which are largely used to enhance school-feeding initiatives.
“Some of the produce we get from the farm is used to feed our students. Every day, we serve over 300 PATH lunches,” she explained, referring to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education – a state welfare initiative.
The principal said that the wider Watchwell community is also supplied from its farm when there is excess in egg production and when school is not in session.
GUIDING SCHOOLS TO SELF-SUSTENANCE
During Thursday’s World Food Day National Ceremony and Exposition held at Newell High, Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green said more schools need to be able to feed themselves for Jamaica to attain food security.
“What we are going to do is that we are going to be targeting our primary and high schools, and the Ministry of Agriculture is going to work with them to expand the school gardening project,” Green explained. “So we are going to be looking at our vegetable lines and trying to ensure that we can input some vegetable production into the schools.”
He said that poultry production will be increased to ensure that students have adequate protein supplies.
There will also be a heavy focus on fruit trees.
“We are going to be looking at hydroponics systems working with Jamaica 4-H Clubs. We are going to be looking at dairy because, again, we want to see more of our children consuming milk, and to expand the consumption. Then we have to put programmes in the school to drive milk production,” Green said.
The minister said he was happy to kick-start the initiative at Newell High, which is located in his constituency of St Elizabeth South Western.
“So, today we will be looking to plant over 20 fruit trees as part of our drive to start orchard crop production across our high schools,” Green said.
Newell High also received more than 200 vegetable seedlings, including lettuce, sweet pepper, cabbage and pak choi, for a containerised gardening project.
Green further said that the Jamaica Dairy Development Board is going to be using Newell to drive goat milk and rabbit meat production.
“So we are going to be providing a goat house, we are going to be providing 12 hybrid goats for the Newell High School, and we are going be working with them to drive their dairy production,” he noted. “We will be providing Newell High School with their first rabbit house. We are going to be driving the production of rabbit meat across the island. It is an excellent protein and low-cost protein.”