Pupils of St. Christopher Primary School enjoy carrot muffins at the Agro-Tourism Health Snack Booth at Agrofest 2009.

The Ministry of Tourism recently teamed up with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to host a series of seminars at Agrofest 2009 on the importance of healthy eating. With emphasis on the use of indigenous fruits and vegetables and the inclusion of these in meals, the booth, located at #11, was a delight to the over 300 school children and their teachers, who attended on the first day, February 27.

They tasted the various treats, including carrot, pumpkin and beet milk-shakes as well as pumpkin and carrot muffins which were prepared by fifth form Food and Nutrition students of the St. Michael School, under the guidance of the Head of Department for Technical and Vocational Studies, Sophia Sayers-Austin.

Another highlight was the ‘Plantation Breakfast’, comprising foods from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad, such as ackee and saltfish, green banana, roti, fried dumpling and red herring. Reports indicated that both locals and visitors enjoyed the sumptuous breakfast.

Speaking about the rationale for staging the seminars, Tourism Development Officer with the Ministry of Tourism and member of the Barbados Agro-tourism Committee, Shanise Taylor, said: “In order for growth in the tourism industry to continue and for it to be sustainable, linkages must be made with other economic sectors.

“The activities were held to demonstrate to locals and visitors alike the linkage between the agricultural and tourism sectors. With Government moving towards the development of a policy on agro-tourism for the island, the event should help to inform and guide the whole agro-tourism product,” she declared.

jgill@barbados.gov.bb

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