A nutritional and organic garden at the Rainbow School in Kruisfontein, provides fresh vegetables for food parcels distributed by Kouga Municipality among vulnerable community members.
A 20-foot refrigeration container, situated at the Humansdorp Fire Station, serves as the central collection, storage and distribution point for the Kouga Municipal Food Parcel project.
The container, funded by the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, has been strategic and catalytic in enabling large quantities of fresh vegetables to be stored, sorted and then included in the dry food parcel packs. Vegetables, milk and perishables donated by Woodlands Dairy and other organisations are also stored in the container.
To have a dedicated, secure, sterile and temperature-controlled container to maintain the freshness of perishable food items has proven to be of high value and essential for providing food relief to the most vulnerable families in disadvantaged communities and human settlements.
“After the Covid-19 pandemic, the refrigeration container will be relocated to King’s College in Ocean View to help the school’s sustainable food project, which includes organic vegetable production that is used to provide nutritional meals for the learners as well as staff and their families,” said Hlengiwe Radebe, Director of Economic Development Officer for Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm.
“A portion of the vegetables harvested is gi-ven to elderly widows and orphans in the surrounding community, in addition to a small portion of the vegetables being sold commercially to provide funding to buy seeds and seedlings to grow new vegetable crops.”
The wind farm started its funding of the King’s College’s large-scale vegetable garden at the end of last year.
The garden is designed to feed the 350 learners, educators and their families, using proven ways to farm organic sustainable vegetables. The methodology is highly cost-effective and climate-smart, utilising the most water-efficient micro-drip irrigation and organic composting, resulting in increased soil fertility.
