This time of year, families are gathering for meals and bringing homegrown food to the table. Our families in Kenya are experiencing joy in doing the same, our Mikinduri site launched its kitchen garden project to help promote healthy eating and to help families to diversify their diets.
Thanks to the generosity of Chalice’s Lunch Buddies, who contribute monthly to the Ladles and Love campaign, these small farms are helping the local food-growing economy, and giving more families access plentiful, low-cost food.
“The entire community has really benefited from increased food security,” says Carolyne, Mikinduri site director, “as there is healthier and more affordable food that has been made available through kitchen gardens. The health of most of the sponsored families and the community at large has greatly improved because there are two hot meals daily on the table that is healthy, diverse, and safe.”
Parents who started gardens told the staff that their garden harvests have produced vegetables consistently year-round. They have not had to buy a veggie since the project began!
This is a great help to their family budgets, helping them reallocate their savings to other needs. In fact, most of the families have decided to reinvest their savings into expanding their gardens. The farmers have also learned new and improved farming methods, such as irrigation, crop rotation, and post-harvest practices, to improve their yield.
The students at the participating schools are also glowing with benefits of veggie-packed school lunches. Carolyne says that the school feeding program in her site is “one of our biggest success stories this year.” A nutritious meal served every day to all students have caused a big bump in enrolment, attendance, and grades.
Students travel long distances to attend the participating schools, Carolyne says, ” they prefer where they can get a plate of food, since in most of their homes they usually have one meal a day or can still go a day without food.”
“Our main diet had been maize and beans only,” shared students from St. Massimo’s school. “But nowadays, we have food that is so colourful and tasty.” The students enjoy helping on their school farm, and while they’re having fun, they’re learning to be tomorrow’s food-growers. The students are taking their new knowledge and starting gardens at home too.
Now their families also eat balanced meals, and there’s a growing awareness of key nutritional concepts, such as the importance of iron, and the role of nutrients in brain development. Family members with nutrition-sensitive conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are able to make informed decisions and access the diets they need.
“Food has a remarkable impact on children and their communities, particularly in terms of education and long-term wellbeing.”
Your monthly support as a Lunch Buddy means more than meals, it means hope, health, and a brighter tomorrow for entire communities. Become a Lunch Buddy and help fight hunger!