Agriculture Awareness Month 2019 commences, new culinary initiative kicks off

Photo caption: Locally cultivated food crops, fruits and vegetables like these on display at a farmer’s booth at Agriculture Open Day 2019, at the Elquemedo T. Willett will be used to prepare lunch dishes by five restaurants on Eat Local Thursdays, a culinary event throughout May during the Ministry and Department of Agriculture’s 7^th annual Agriculture Awareness Month

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (April 02, 2019) — Eat Local Thursdays, a culinary event, a new initiative for the Ministry and Department of Agriculture’s 7^th annual Agriculture Awareness Month with the theme“Think Climate Smart, for food and nutrition Security and Sustainability”commenced at Wilma’s Diner in Charlestown on May 05, 2019.

Mr. Huey Sargeant, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture told the Department of Information on May 01, 2019, that the diner is one of a few restaurants participating in the event which will continue to take place every Thursday in April. The event highlights the work of those engaged in the agriculture sector on Nevis, and their efforts to provide healthy and nutritious food.

“We’ve partnered with five restaurants, and these restaurants will provide dishes that are 100 percent local…We are supporting our restaurants to provide healthy and nutritional foods for our people. The first one is actually Wilma’s Diner…this Thursday May 02, and we are hoping they can provide this meal to patrons for just about $25.

“We have restaurants involved such as Mems Pizzaria, we have Taste of Eden involved, we have Sunshine’s involved and you have Yubrenta in Cades Bay involved in this initiative. We will be promoting their menus hoping to drive some traffic to these restaurants, so that they can actually provide, and our consumers on Nevis can actually have a taste of true local food,” he said.

On Tuesday, May 07, Hon. Alexis Jeffers will plant the first of 500 fruit trees to be planted on government-owned estates, during a brief ceremony to symbolize the start of the project.

Photo caption: Mr. Huey Sargeant, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture speaking to the Department of Agriculture on May 01, 2019

Mr. Sargeant noted that in forging a partnership with home owners, they will have access to one fruit available to interested homeowners for planting in their yard. In the coming days a distribution schedule will be made public.

On May 07 and 08, the Department of Agriculture will facilitate two Farmer Training sessions at the Nevis Cooperative Credit Union at which matters such as cost of production will be addressed in an effort to provide cheaper foods for the people of Nevis.

The popular fresh Local Produce Sale takes place at the public market in Charlestown on Friday, May 10.

An Open House at the Prospect Station is planned for May 20 to 23, which Mr. Sargeant believes should be of particular interest to students.

“You can our visit our Veterinary Services, our Abattoir and you can visit the Prospect Experimental Station. You can also visit our Agro Processing Plant and you can see what we do.

“Students especially are invited, and we have a component this year and it’s called Career Emersion Exercise where we are going to highlight the areas that students can get involved, and indeed show that agriculture is viable career path for many students,” he said.

On Friday, May 24, a Farmers Market will be held at a location to be announced shortly. From 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. a group of farmers, on the invitation of the department will be available to vend produce directly to consumers.

The popular Pork Fest will be replaced by a Meat Festival on May 31, at the Charlestown Waterfront which will bring the curtains down on the awareness month.

“This year we have changed it somewhat. We are calling it a Meat Fest where you can get all of your choice cuts of meat whether it be pork, beef, mutton or fish…We are hoping that persons can come and patronize but this year…we are making an effort to provide you with cooked meat.

At the Abattoir we recently opened our Agro Processing Wing, and they do burgers and sausages… the grills and the pots will be running on that day. So you can not only get your raw meats but you can get your cooked meats and you can really have a taste of what it is to eat local,” Mr. Sargeant said.

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