SUSTAINABLE VEGETABLE GARDEN PROVIDES FOOD DURING COVID

May 2020, Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm.

A Nutritional Organic Vegetable Garden at the Rainbow School in Kruisfontein, is providing fresh healthy food items for community food parcels that are being delivered by the Kouga Municipality, for vulnerable families.

A 20-foot refrigeration container was purchased and delivered to the Kouga Municipality, just before the start of lockdown. This container is situated at the Humansdorp Fire station, Covid-19 Joint Operations Control, and is being used as the central collection, storage and distribution point for the Kouga Municipal Food Parcel and fresh food items.

This refrigeration container, funded by the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, has been strategic and catalytic in enabling large quantities (tons) of fresh vegetable to be stored, sorted and then included into the dry food parcel packs. Items other than vegetables being installed in the container include milk and other perishables donated by Woodlands Dairy and other NGO’s and private organisations.

To have a dedicated, secure, sterile, temperature controlled container to maintain the freshness of perishable food items has proven to be of high value and essential to provide food relief to the most vulnerable families in disadvantaged communities and human settlements.

“This refrigeration container will be relocated to the King’s College School, in Oceanview, after the Covid-19 pandemic, to help this school’s sustainable food project, which includes organic vegetable production that is used to provide nutritional meals for the learners as well as helping to feed staff and their families. A portion of the vegetables harvested is given 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,” said Hlengiwe Radebe, Director of Economic Development Officer for Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm.
The container will enable vegetables such as beetroot to be prepared and canned or bottled to supply families with vegetables, giving them will have a longer shelf life.

The wind farm started its funding of the King’s College School’s large-scale vegetable garden at the end of last year. The garden is designed to feed the 350 school children, teachers and their families, using world‐best practise ways of farming organic sustainable vegetable technology. 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.