Food Revolution Day - "teach every child about food"

I recently watch celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver give a TedEx Talk (although it was recorded in 2010!). He was on the start of his anti obesity mission in the USA then and was delivering some strong arguments for teaching American children about where food comes from and to help them make healthier food choices. 

From statistics that show the biggest killer of Americans are diet related preventable diseases to dumping a wheelbarrow of sugar on the stage (the amount of sugar American kids drink in their milk every year) the passionately delivered talk was a plea to schools and parents to make healthier food choices. 

More information about the Food Revolution and how you can get involved can be found here: http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/

While I assume that Vanuatu is not at the same level of obesity as the USA, and I'm sure many other developed countries, it is apparent that there will be added strain on the health system with a growing number of adults here diagnosed with diabetes and diet related diseases - and in time their children will face the same health related issues. It is also apparent that local children are eating more and more sugary food and drinks and convenience foods such as rice, noodles and bread and large portion sizes - especially of rice.

The Green Hands Garden project is supporting schools to establish school vegetable gardens to supply their canteen, and in turn provided healthy choices for students. In the future we hope to have a school resource written in the three national languages to accompany the garden project as a teaching resource that provides nutritious information about food from the garden and an appropriate recipe for the canteen to use.  

rethinking how to be effective...

We sat back and thought about how we could best utilise the generous donations made by family, friends, friends of friends and complete strangers. Our premise that food will have a dual purpose; to feed families and give people the opportunity to earn an income, still stood strong in our belief as an effective way to contribute to the rebuild. 

Interestingly the theme of the rebuild here is "Build Back Better", and so from our research and local knowledge we found that there were a lot of donated seeds being distributed across the country. We also became aware that in some cases (not all), locals don't usually grow food from seed, they usually grow their daily food source from cuttings and seeded vegetables. That being said there is increasing local knowledge around growing food from seed - and often this is food that is not traditional, or a usual food dietary item. 

So we thought with the "Build Back Better" mantra that to increase the success rate of seeds becoming food that we (I  mean Wayne really!) would grow and distribute seedlings instead of distributing seeds.

Purchased packets of seeds from Vanuatu Agriculture Supplies.
The standard packet of seeds is about 95vatu (NZ$1.20) and supports an established company
to support the employment of  locals.

First batch of seeds included DWARF BEANS; BOK CHOY; TOMATO

                                   
     

We were both surprised at how well the seedlings grew, in some cases the seeds
germinated within days so we needed to get them in the ground quickly !