By Jaime Hunter | Executive Director
When we first started developing the concept for Growing Adelante, an educational program at our school that combines husbandry and agriculture with the culinary arts, social studies and math, and much more, we knew we were on to something special. Today we want to highlight our new cafeteria!
But first, let us tell you more about the Growing Adelante program. The concept started when we began noticing a trend amongst our low-income families. Often, they would lament that they did not have enough money for tuition because they didn't have enough to pay for food. Sometimes, children were only eating two meals a day. Development in Nicaragua has been slower than in first-world countries, but still many families have lost their ancestral and indigenous connection to the Earth. Somewhere during the 20th century, many began to rely on cheap and unhealthy pre-packaged and processed foods, instead of harvesting their own healthy crops. As the center of town expanded there were fewer rural zones for those families, thus fewer people growing their own food. Today, the cost of goods is expensive in Nicaragua and the salaries are low. If we could teach a man to fish, plant, crop, and cook, then maybe we could not only feed him for life but an entire community. Growing Adelante was born.
In 2019 when we opened the new campus, we began to put the plan in motion. We always knew that we had an interest in teaching gardening, but we transformed the idea into something much bigger. Our students not only harvest crops that they then prepare in a learning kitchen but they eat together as a school community under a beautiful palm-thatched roof on a teak wooden floor in a unique cafeteria. By being a part of the Growing Adelante program, which culminates in the food students ingest in the cafeteria we built, they are reconnecting with their roots, both literally and figuratively! And children are learning how to eat healthy at the same time! We see diets here rich in fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, and meats. But we also see an unhealthy amount of sugar, salt, and oil being unnecessarily added to dishes, in addition to the processed foods mentioned above.
At Adelante, we are not only committed to a program that teaches agriculture, husbandry, cooking, and gardening, but we are teaching healthy habits for life that we hope will be passed down for generations. Did you know that we provide every student who attends our school with a healthy morning snack and mid-day lunch? We feel so grateful to be able to do so and it would not be possible without the support of our donors. It took the combined power of many individuals to reach our goal on this campaign and finance this unique cafeteria. But we did it. Together. And we thank you. We are so pleased to have a place where everyone can come together and eat community meals as an Adelante family. As the sign hanging in the cafeteria rancho says, “There’s always room for one more at the table.” One day we hope you'll join us too!
For more information about Growing Adelante and how to help us grow even more, check out our new video here! We hope you love it as much as we do.
By Jaime Hunter | Executive Director
By Jaime Hunter | Executive Director
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