by Debbie Grunbaum, Director of Communications
WhyHunger’s Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign, in partnership with Hard Rock International and Yoko Ono Lennon, works with 26 grassroots organizations in 15 countries to address the immediate needs of childhood hunger and support long-term, sustainable solutions to rebuild local food economies. On the ground in Haiti, our Imagine partners at Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Peasant Movement of Papaye), or MPP, are working with over 60,000 peasant farmers to reshape Haiti’s food economy and ensure that everyone has the right to good food. On a recent visit to the Central Plateau, where MPP has its headquarters, we learned that this movement is not only taking shape in the fields, but also in the schools.
The demand for healthier, locally-grown school food is heating up across the United States and some amazing WhyHunger partners are leading the change from the grassroots up. This week, we want to share a snapshot of school food in Haiti, brought to you by MPP.
Through a partnership with MPP, students at the National School of Bassin Zim in Haiti's Central Plateau are now getting the nutrients and energy needed to learn. MPP’s agroecologists have been working with the administration, parents and community at Bassin Zim to build their capacity to successfully run a school-based sustainable agriculture program through training, technical assistance and support. (Photo: WhyHunger)
MPP founder and president, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, demonstrates the newly built, Imagine-funded water cistern that has allowed the agriculture program at the Bassin Zim school to flourish, providing healthy meals for their more than 500 students. (Photo: Hazel Thompson)
John Galloway, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Hard Rock Cafe International, works with parents and community members to prepare the fields for the season at the National School of Bassin Zim. (Photo: Hazel Thompson)
Students enjoy lunch at another local school, in Californe, Haiti, where MPP has just begun a similar agroecology program to harvest the surrounding fields to ensure that every child gets a healthy meal during the day. (Photo: Hazel Thompson)
And don’t forget the mangos! Found in abundance around Haiti’s rich Central Plateau, mangoes offer a healthy but sweet addition to any meal – especially for this toddler in Californe! (Photo: WhyHunger)
