TRINIDAD && TOBAGO — School gardening and garden-based education can
play a role in improving the nutritional behaviour of young gardeners.
Last week Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley visited the Carenage Girls’
Government Primary School and the Diego Martin Girls’ RC School to get a
first-hand look at the kitchen gardens created by the students who are
participating in a pilot School Gardening Project.
Under this program, students will be taught to grow nutritious green leafy
vegetables, fruits and spices in containers, ground beds and hydroponic grow
systems.
The ultimate goal is to create, facilitate, and stimulate the interest of future
farmers by providing the launching pad for young ‘agri-preneurs’. This measure
is vital to building food security in Trinidad and Tobago and will also have a
positive economic impact.
The produce from the students’ gardens will be used in the school feeding
program or sold at the school gate to teachers, parents and members of the
community.
Primary schools in the Diego Martin West district were selected to pilot this
initiative which will later be adopted by primary schools throughout Trinidad and
Tobago.
