GULAYAN SA PAARALAN: SUSTAINABLE SOURCE OF LIFE

ANNABELL T. TURLA

Living in a healthy environment and nutritious foods lengthen a person’s life. To raise more awareness about health and nutrition-among students, teachers, and parents – DepEd implemented “Gulayan sa Paaralan.” Crops harvested from school gardens are used to sustain the school’s feeding programs. The school has been a basic foundation of skills and learning and is the ideal point for a project such as the “Gulayan sa Paaralan”.

It will not only benefit the children regarding sustainability but will embed in their consciousness the realization of how important these vegetables, their nutrients and vitamins and the effect of healthy living are. Schools were tasked to plant vegetables in vacant lots to have an alternative source of food for the school’s feeding program. The program is advisable to the students, schools and communities for the food’s quality, safety, and availability. Turning these idle portions in a somewhat green pasture of vegetation will not only turn the school into refreshing scenery but also awaken the consciousness of the student populace on the effect of having a healthy dietary intake.

Any schools could have a profitable and successful Gulayan sa Paaralan if the school has dedicated and committed teachers/ facilitators who would transfer their love and appreciation of the importance of farming as valuable role in any society for they are responsible to feed the entire country, thus this program will be an instrument to uphold the noblest occupation being a farmer. Gulayan sa Paaralan sustainability in school level also involves marketing. Aside from selling the excess fruits and vegetables from the feeding program in the community, students were also thought to sell fruits and vegetable seedlings. Income generating plus sustainable development

The DepEd released memorandum No. 293 in 2007, Gulayan sa Paaralan” program encouraging to increase public awareness on health and nutrition, especially among the students, teachers, and parents. It also aims to help the government solve malnutrition in the Philippines by making school gardens as main sources of food in supplementary feeding program.

Under the Gulayan sa Paaralan project, the DA-Regional field Units will provide seeds of preferred and indigenous vegetables, planting materials of root crops such as sweet potato and cassava, and technical assistance.

Concerned Local Government Units, in partnership with the DA-RFUs/ Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and NGOs and PO will coordinate with the DepED in the conduct of trainings among schoolchildren and teachers alike. These will cover topics on growing vegetables, organic fertilizer production, pest and disease management, home-saved seed production, and container/ backyard gardening .Alternative Learning system also provide skills trainings for out-of-school youths regarding the value and importance of agriculture in sustain life. The Department of Agriculture sustain all necessary equipment and tools for actual planting.

— oOo—

The author is a Teacher II, Lauc Pao ES, Lubao West District