Legarda Lauds DepEd’s ‘Gulayan sa Paaralan’ Project; Pushes for Child Nutrition Program in all Public Schools

AS THE NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL GETS READY TO LAUNCH NUTRITION MONTH ON JULY 2, SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA LAUDED THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DEPED) ON ITS INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE EATING VEGETABLES AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN THROUGH THE ‘GULAYAN SA PAARALAN’ PROJECT.
Legarda stressed that this year’s Nutrition Month, which has the theme: ‘Pagkain ng gulay ugaliin, araw-araw itong ihain!’, will put emphasis not only on eating vegetables for good health but also on how vegetables are cultivated.
She noted that DepEd’s Memorandum No. 101 encourages all public elementary and secondary schools to conduct simultaneous vegetable gardening activities on July 2. This will also highlight the food security dimension of the National Greening Program or Executive Order No. 26.
“We should invest in green schools and encourage them to grow vegetable gardens. We want students to eat healthy,” Legarda said.
The Senator cited the success of students and teachers of the Virgilio B. Melendres Elementary School in Pililla, Rizal in cultivating a vegetable farm in their school, a story featured internationally through the Cable News Network (CNN).
“I laud the DepEd’s ‘Gulayan sa Paaralan’ project because now earning will not be confined to the classrooms; students themselves will take part in growing what they will eat. It is this kind of activity that fosters curiosity and genuine engagement, which is exactly what we need to see in the youth of today,” she stressed.
Legarda is author of several nutrition bills including Senate Bill 2561, the proposed Child Nutrition Law, which aims to create a system-wide plan to implement a nutrition and health program for children in public schools and barangay day care centers, consisting of a complementary feeding program.