October 16th is World Food Day, where people from around the globe will be uniting to raise awareness around food scarcity and how climate change affects food production and distribution.
Through this awareness and the discussions which arise, the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the United Nations (FAO), hopes that goals to build a Zero Hunger Generation will be set, steps to reach those goals will be implemented and eventually reached for everyone who struggles with food-related issues.
Greater emphasis is also being put on not just having enough to eat but having enough NUTRITIOUS food and building awareness around what constitutes a balanced, nutritious diet. While hunger is a massive problem in developing economies, obesity is becoming a massive issue in first-world countries and is also considered in the FAO mandate to create a Zero Hunger Generation.
This is an issue close to the Inzalo Community Project’s heart. We support two projects which have a feeding scheme component, the one is at the Hananani Primary School and the other is through Nourish, an NGO that we collaborate with.
With the Hananani Primary School, we set up and then helped to run a vegetable garden which provides the school kitchen with fresh produce to feed all 225 learners one solid meal every day. Many of the children that attend this school are from disadvantaged backgrounds, where financial hardship makes eating three healthy, balanced meals every day a dream rather than a reality.
The garden produces peppers, carrots, onions, spinach and beetroot for the meals as well as fresh eggs. These vegetables are grown organically and, since they are produced right on the property, are often picked on the day that they are needed – making sure that that meals are packed with fresh, nutrient dense properties.
The gardens are also under the watchful eye of one of our passionate entrepreneurs, Keysman Nkuna, and means that Hananani enjoys an abundance of food, which many other schools on government feeding schemes do not.
Children are often taken into the vegetable garden to learn about where their food comes from, how it’s grown and why it’s good for you – helping to foster a healthy attitude towards food, nutrition and diet.
If you would like to get involved or contribute to our efforts toward a Zero Hunger Generation, then get in touch. The school has just granted Keysman more land on which to grow more vegetables, so we are looking to raise funds for infrastructure like water tanks, shade-cloth and irrigation. You can email Candice@thornybush.co.za for more information.
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