Paraguayan Children learn how to plant Vegetable Gardens in their Schools

Santiago, Chile, Tuesday 13 December 2011 - Five thousand children in 43 schools in Paraguay participated in a FAO project to promote healthy eating habits.

The project, Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger, worked with children, their parents and educators to teach them how to plant, harvest and manage healthy and nutritious foods by building vegetable gardens in their schools and incorporating nutrition education. 

The project, conducted in schools in Asunción, was the subject of a news report written by the PULSAR news agency in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 

"Feeding Minds focuses on children between six and 10 years old who are beginning to develop eating habits," stated Jorge Mesa, FAO Representative in Paraguay. (listen to the interview)

Working together with Parents

Parents and the rest of the teaching community were also involved in the project. 

"We all work in the vegetable gardens, including moms and dads. One day, we went to work, and we helped each other plant vegetables in the school garden. Now, they are ready to be eaten," said Catalina Bareiro, one of the mothers involved in the project. (listen to the audio)

One of the goals of the project was to ensure that families replicated the vegetable gardens built at schools in their own homes. This, in turn, encourages the entire community to plant and eat vegetables. (see the vegetable garden construction manual)

"We came together as parents to work together. People do not eat vegetables in many places because they do not develop these healthy eating habits when they are young. Now, children attend school, where they are fed vegetables starting at a very young age," stated Juan Barrera (listen to the audio)

Nutrition education was also introduced in schools through a tutorial and a booklet of practical activities for each cycle of basic education. These activities addressed healthy eating, nutritional and hygiene requirements, food security and the right to food.