by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- World Food Day produce donated to charity
- Decline in agro-processors attributed to a lack of interest in young people
Local fruit and vegetables displayed during the World Food Day exhibition were donated to the Princess Alice Hospital in Mirabeau, the Cadrona Home for the Aged in La Fillet, St Andrew and the St Martin’s Home for the Aged in Crochu.
Over the past 10 years, following World Food Day, produce collected for the exhibition has been donated to charity.
Chairman of the 2018 organising committee James Mahon said local farmers much be given recognition since they are the ones who made available the produced donated on Tuesday. “Our farmers would have given us a number of items for exhibits and what we have done was to take most of this produce and distribute them to the various homes. We think it’s a noble thing to do by giving back what the farmers have given to us.”
Health Service Administrator of the Princess Alice Hospital Hannah St Paul was extremely pleased for the donation. She said the donations would help support healthy nutrition for the patients at the hospital. “Princess Alice Hospital appreciates any donations received because we know the government cannot do it by itself. Healthcare basically in Grenada is free so a lot of the times we depend on other institutions to provide support. We will use this produce because it will be used in the kitchen for preparing meals and everything here is locally grown and that is what health is all about.”
Mahon said the success of this year’s World Food Day celebration could not have been possible without the help of farmers. He also indicated this year has seen a decline in the number of agro-processors and attributed that decline to a lack of interest in young people to continue the business.
“One of our observations during the World Food Day celebration was that a number of our agro-processors are getting weary for want of a better word because some of them are getting older and I don’t think we would have seen the number of processors as we are accustomed to. We attribute that to the fact that not many young people are taking over from their parents. So, we think this is something we would have to address.”
World Food Day 2018 was held under the theme “Our Actions are our Future: A Zero Hunger World by 2030 is possible.”
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