Oscar González shares the experience of change in his community after participating in a course from the Brazil-FAO Cooperation in school feeding
Paulo Beraldo
Since the revitalization of the school garden at the La Ortega Educational Center in the Municipality of Moca, Espaillat province, in the Dominican Republic, Oscar González noticed a profound change. The garden, which had been abandoned for years, gained new colors; tires were repurposed to create new flower beds, and children and adolescents started bringing it to life. And, of course, many nutritious foods were harvested.
The work in this garden was the result of the internship that Oscar, an industrial and food engineer, undertook as part of the FAO course in Food and Nutritional Education (FNE) linked to School Feeding Programmes in 2019. Oscar recalls the experience. “The truth is that after a while, everyone wanted to be the guardians of the garden. We generated this desire to plant a seed, water it, take care of it; the students wanted to go to school more, and the garden was one of the areas that attracted them the most,” he recounts.
One of the most special moments was the harvest, when a special table was set up, and each student had to make a presentation to the school. “It was very exciting. They gave us a lesson about each of the foods; we were there to listen to them, to give them importance, to support them in the research they were doing about the foods. So, we achieved this commitment, we gave them this value, and we achieved their involvement in something that is sometimes not provided at home. They really felt part of something,” Oscar says.
For Oscar, the most exciting part was the multiplication of knowledge learned in the course. “The young ones took this knowledge home, transmitted it to their fathers and mothers, to their cousins, to their little friends. Many created their own gardens at home; they told us what they had planted, how it was blooming, growing, and that their parents and uncles supported them. So, truly, that experience left the school and went to their homes. We managed to instill in them and their families a culture of healthy eating.”
Creativity during these activities was crucial. In the school garden, students could learn everything from science and math when planning and designing the garden to other languages, as many looked for the names of foods in other languages and researched their nutritional qualities.
Another important initiative had to do with waste, encouraging children to serve appropriate amounts and rewarding those who left no leftovers: “I ate it all!” those who met the goal had to declare. Additionally, students were encouraged to swap out some rice for more legumes and vegetables.
“After that dynamic, they started eating vegetables first and learned to add seasonings, and see that these foods could be more delicious. We did all of this with the tools of food and nutritional education provided by the course,” highlights Oscar.
After some changes in leadership, Oscar had to leave his job at the La Ortega Educational Center. However, he continued visiting the space every two months and maintains smooth communication with the director and her team to ensure that the work continues. “I always tell them: don’t let it fall, keep helping the girls, boys, and adolescents to eat healthily!” says Oscar.
“Many times, projects fail because another government comes in with a different vision. But in this case, this initiative has persisted because it reached the root: the children and adolescents of the schools, who remain committed, as well as the director,” explains Oscar. “That experience of healthy eating that emerged from the course has been maintained over time thanks to this commitment. The little seed of healthy eating is still alive.”
The course
In 2019, within the scope of the school feeding project of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation, conducted by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the course in FNE was offered to 167 professionals from El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. The objective was to raise awareness among participants about the importance of school feeding programmes and to equip them to develop FNE actions adapted to the specific contexts of each program.
