First Lady, Sandra Granger, along with several Ministers of Government, travelled last month to Brazil on a Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO/UN) mission to learn and exchange views on experiences in sustainable school feeding.
According to a FAO/UN press release, school feeding has been mandatory in primary and secondary schools in Brazil since 1955, but in 2009, a new policy was introduced to establish a 30% minimum quota of procuring organic agricultural products from local farmers. This has obliged inter-disciplinary cooperation across line departments of education, health and agriculture to support local farmers in introducing organic farming and supplying schools with quality produce of nutritional value. To date, an average of 25% of local procurement has been achieved countrywide.
