THE LUCELEC Trust Company Inc., the philanthropic arm of the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC), has signed a letter of commitment with the Government of Saint Lucia to partner on a pilot project aimed at strengthening the School Feeding Programme.
Thirteen primary schools across the island have been chosen to participate in the initiative to include the upgrade of school kitchen facilities where necessary and the establishment of school gardens using greenhouse and irrigation technologies. The intent is to incorporate the food grown in the gardens into the each School Feeding Programme.
The LUCELEC Trust is contributing $18,000 to the programme. The funding will establish a school garden at the Vieux Fort Primary School.
LUCELEC Corporate Communications Manager Roger Joseph made the commitment and presented the cheque on behalf of the LUCELEC Trust. He says support of the School Feeding Programme ties into one of the major goals for the Trust and is in many ways planting a seed that will bear fruit of many kinds in the future.
Said Joseph: “There are many commendable features of this project. But what appeals to us is the opportunity to inculcate a love of sustainable farming and the practice of it in our young people. Perhaps, this may spark the revolution in farming that we so desperately need as a country. Perhaps, just perhaps, we may be growing the next generation of farmers who will grow the food that they eat, and the country eats. And we may finally solve not just our food import bill problem in the near future, but also some of the diet related health issues that we are currently battling with, and that we will continue to battle with in the future, if we do not change our eating habits.”
The project is also part of St. Lucia’s response to the “Zero Hunger Challenge” made by the Secretary General of the United Nations which was formally launched here on Monday.