News Rachael Espinet 58 minutes agoThe Minister of Sport and Community Development, Shamfa Cudjoe, presented Lucian George with a celery seedling on Friday at the start of the “Grow It Yourself Kitchen Garden” competition at the Bagatelle Community Center, Diego Martin. – PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB
Growing a vegetable garden not only improves household nutrition, but also increases income, advised Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe on Friday.
“A vegetable garden is not just about growing your own food. There is much more to it. The ability to generate our own income makes for great indoor habits, reduces psychological stress, and can certainly improve your diet,” she said. She spoke through the ministry at the start of the Grow it Yourself Community Kitchen Garden competition at the Bagatelle Community Center, Diego Martin.
This initiative is part of the Prime Minister’s Best Village competition and was previously known as the Clean and Beautify TT. The competition was reintroduced in May last year when people were planting vegetable gardens in their homes during the Covid19 lockdown.
Cudjoe said the competition is the government’s way of continuing to promote healthy living. She said by creating a culture of planting vegetable gardens, they are also helping to perpetuate cultural heritage that may have been ignored due to modernization. During the lockdown, her mother started a vegetable garden, and she noticed that her seven-year-old nephew started building poultry traps.
“I can’t tell you how long I saw a poultry trap. It made me smile because other beautiful things happened amid the dark feeling of desire. People developed new hobbies, developed new businesses, and children learned traditions like a Poultry trap. “
The main principles of the competition are food security, growing food at home, agricultural education, organic farming, hydroponics to combat land scarcity and urbanization, aquaponics, composting and promoting agricultural and agricultural entrepreneurship.
There are five categories of vegetable garden prices: small, medium, large, hydroponic, and aquaponic. The category special prizes include: Most Innovative Vegetable Garden, Most Sustainable Garden, Best Influencer Vegetable Garden, voted by judges and the public based on the number of likes received on the ministry’s social media channels, people’s choice, the decorative garden and family garden.
Gwyneth Alexander, acting director of the community development department, said: “The vegetable garden initiative continues to demonstrate our ability to be resilient and to develop this viable product that can only produce good results … we assume that we are Can Initiate Productive Family Engagement Some of the social problems individuals face as a result of extended imprisonment primarily encourage healthy lifestyles. “
The competition is run in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries through the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco).
Wayne Innis, chairman of Namdevco, said activities like this are a step in the right direction as the country seeks to become a food safe nation and raise awareness of good agricultural practices across the country.
“Reducing the frequency of our market visits has made it more difficult for some to enjoy fresh local fruits and vegetables. The Grow It Yourself challenge provides an opportunity to provide communities with fresh patchoi, lettuce, melons, and more, not just in the short and long term to supply term plants as described in the challenge, but it is an innovative way to also help reduce food waste. “
He said having food production as close to the consumer as possible is one of the best ways to reduce food waste. Registration is open until April 28th.