Vegetable gardens help curb malnutrition in Cagayan schools

Posted at 4:25 pm January 30, 2012

Tags: School Activities

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By Anna Valmero

TUGUEGARAO CITY, CAGAYAN– The Department of Agriculture (and Department of Education is urging more than 2,000 public schools in the Cagayan Valley region to plant vegetable gardens to supplement school feeding programs.

These vegetable gardens primarily aim to augment the supplemental feeding program and achieve nutritious foods for the students, said regional agriculture information officer Prisca Baquiran.

Last year, a total of 1, 191 schools in the region were oriented on the advantages of having school vegetable gardens.

During such orientations, teachers are told that the crop and farm harvests from the garden can be used or distributed among students during their meals.

DepEd nutritionist Edith Ubina added that local ofcfices are constantly monitoring the established gardens to ensure sustainability and to ensure that they serve their purpose to improve the health of school children.

“This program aims to combat malnutrition among school children that is why we keep on explaining to school administrators that the harvests from the gardens should benefit the school children,” Ubina said.

The project also aims to teach school administrators to gather and preserve seeds out of the planted vegetables for the next planting season.

This research by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) revealed that there was a significant decline in the food intake among children six months to five years old. Most school children also fail to meet the daily required intake of nutrients such as iron, protein and Vitamin A.

Vegetable gardens help curb malnutrition in Cagayan schools

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