Helping children understand food production from the scratch

Green talk: Officials speaking to students at Aroickiyamatha Matriculation School in Tiruchi on Tuesday.

In an attempt to encourage a change in food habits, Yugaa, an all-women social welfare organisation, held a sensitisation programme ‘Nam Unavu … Nam Kayil’ (Our Food in Our Hands) for students at the Arokiamatha Matric School in Karumandapam in the city on Tuesday.

Attended by over 500 students of classes 7,8,9 and 11, the morning programme included demonstrative workshops on home gardening conducted by Krishnamurthy, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Tiruchi, and a lecture on millets and their nutritional merits by R.Chandrasekaran, former Joint Director of Agriculture.

Short films on organic farming, hazardous nature of chemicals and pesticides and the need to avoid food wastage were also screened.

Children who successfully answered questions in quizzes held after each event were presented with seeds and saplings as prizes.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Krishnamurthy said, “Change can be brought about only by children, because they have to know why they should turn down junk food.”

More than 200 seed packets of vegetables like brinjal, tomato, chilli and drumsticks were given away to children who attended the programme.

The school campus was gifted with saplings of shade-giving and flowering trees by Yugaa.

“As part of our youth awareness campaigns, we feel such events will help children understand the process of food production from the scratch,” said Allirani Balaji, president of Yugaa. “A practical exposure to planting and agricultural practices will have a more lasting impact on young minds than book-based learning,” she added.