(EMU) – St. Kitts, April 5, 2018: The Ministry of Education has always played a vital role in the success of the School Meals Feeding Programme. On April 4th, the Ministry continued its support by hosting a seminar and staff meeting at the main kitchen, located at Needmust.

The Programme is an initiative which was initially implemented in 1982 by the Government of St. Kitts to provide meals for all primary school students and disadvantaged students in the high schools. The goal of the programme is to provide top quality balanced meals that promote healthy bodies and minds among students of the Federation.

The staff at the School Meals Programme was given the opportunity to acquire knowledge and best practices from professionals on the topics Personal Hygiene, Food Safety, Sanitation, Portion Control and Food Nutrition.

“The School Feeding Programme is crucial to what we do in St. Kitts and we are trying to make an effort to eliminate obesity as well as non-communicable diseases among our youth,” declared Ms. Dorothy Warner, Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Education.

She confirmed that the staff meeting segment of the session was organized to address some issues which the workers encounter as they provide the service to the schools. “The workers at the School Meals Feeding Programme, ‘Feed the Future’, and we want to ensure that their morale is raised and they realise that what they do is beneficial to everyone in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Assistant Secretary, Warner, also disclosed that key members from the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Education attended an Inception Workshop funded by the Canadian IDRC (International Development Research Centre) under the theme ‘Improving Household Nutrition Security and Public Health in the CARICOM’. The workshop was held in Jamaica in March, 2018 and was attended by participating countries, namely St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & The Grenadines and Jamaica.

She confirmed that the Seminar will help to promote the theme of the Inception Workshop as they strive to implement national food systems, while enhancing sustainable livelihoods and combating obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.