Home Grown School Feeding Programme to be established

Discussions are under way for the establishment of a Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Jamaica.
This was disclosed by the Hon. Audley Shaw, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, who stated that during discussions at the recently held FAO meeting in Rome, the FAO had expressed an interest in sending a representative to Jamaica to assist in creating a model school-feeding programme.
Minister Shaw was addressing farmers at the 124th Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon on July 10.
The agriculture minister emphasised the need for children to eat more nutritious food and said that he was working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to develop a formal school-feeding programme where children would eat more locally produced food.
While commending the JAS for its spirit of enterprise and innovation, Minister Shaw said the plans for the Denbigh Showground were ambitious. He challenged the JAS to transform the Denbigh Showground into a major commercial facility to be used all year.
Mr Shaw said the Government is committed to do all in its power to help the JAS to implement its plans to include better utilisation of its assets.
Among the plans outlined by the JAS President Lenworth Fulton at the AGM were participation in the equities market with an IPO, repair of the processing plant at Morgan’s Pass in Clarendon; and establishment of farmers’ markets at the Hague, Montpelier and Denbigh properties.
Fulton also stated that the transformation of the Denbigh property had begun with the establishment of an ackee processing facility and a Jamaica Drip (Isratech) facility where farmers will be educated about the various types of irrigation systems and their usage.