UPDATE: Seedling vouchers to be distributed to 800 families
Download the "How to Grow Pamphlets" here: Afrikaans - English - Xhosa In this coming week, the Ward 2 Red Cross Pandemic Committee and the Valley Food Gardens initiative will be distributing seedling vouchers to all the 550 families who have received regular food parcels for the past four months, and to another 250 families wanting to participate. With this voucher each of these 800 families can claim 40 free assorted vegetable seedlings from one of the five seedling Hubs established by the Valley Food Gardens, in each of the communities of Ward 2. This is an important turning point in our response to the Coronavirus crisis. The vulnerable families will be able to establish or enhance their own household vegetable gardens to lessen their dependence on food parcels in future and to provide themselves with healthy immune system boosting greens to help ward off the virus. And add to that the dignity and satisfaction that comes with growing your own food. A basic permaculture based “How to Grow” pamphlet will accompany each voucher. Further pamphlets, coaching and regular short courses in various topics such as composting and pest control, will also be made available through the Valley Food Gardens Hub owners. These nursery Hubs are being supported to becoming their own viable nursery businesses. We have also made a tough decision that further food parcels will only be given to those families who make an effort to use their vouchers to start a food garden. Of course, the desperately vulnerable who cannot do this will not be abandoned and the many valiant community kitchens will still be operating to ensure that children are fed. We will need further donations for both food parcels and to support the Valley Food Garden Hubs with capital expenses and voucher subsidies, thus paving the way for the transition from humanitarian aid to local food security. We are looking at ending food parcel towards the end of September but will be keeping an eye on the situation. What is the Valley Food Gardens?
The Red Cross and supporting organisations are providing food parcels to vulnerable families in the Genadendal Valley in the Overberg Region of South Africa in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. But this is an unsustainable solution to food insecurity. Once the pandemic grips the cities, resources and attention may largely go there, and as the economy takes many years to recover and food insecurity persists, we may have to fall back more and more on our own resources and resourcefulness in the four towns in our valley. As part of the Red Cross Covid-19 Response, the Greyton Transition Town (GTT) has launched a food security initiative for Genadendal, Bereaville, Voorstekraal and Greyton, called the Valley Food Gardens, to boost vegetable production in our valley. It is led by Marshall Rinquest, the GTT Director, who has years of experience in supporting permaculture and community-based food gardens in schools and households. Key aspects of the Initiative:
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The people leading this initiativeTo download our brochure click here
Home vegetable gardens increase people's economic access to food, reduce family food bills, allow more spending on proteins, enable more diverse diets, boost their immune systems and potentially provide growers with a new source of income from the sale of surplus. Please DonateThrough our Crowd Funding site:
https://www.givengain.com/cc/valleyfoodgardens/ OR Greyton Transition Town FNB Caledon Branch Code: 200212 Account Number: 62355982747 Swift Code: FIRNZAJJ Reference: Valley Food Please contact us if you have any ideas or connections to support this: Marshall Rinquest (GTT Director) 0734861965 - marshall@greytontransition.co.za Doug Reeler (GTT Chairperson) 0732556528 – dougreeler@gmail.com To download our brochure click here To download our "Good Food to Fight Covid-19" pamphlet click here |
