Healthy Kitchens and Cooking for Nutrition

From the forests of Guatemala, September 14, 2016 -- Although we continue to stress the fundamentals of nutrition and clean kitchens, the Seeds team is adding a new facet to our work with the families of rural Guatemala in the fight against malnutrition: the Casa-Granja.

The Casa-Granja concept (loosely translated as Backyard Farm) is based on producing a variety of foods using an integrated method where each component supports and complements the others. Garden trimmings are used to feed rabbits or chickens, manure from the protein animals is composted to improve the garden soil, enriched water from ponds used for raising Tilapia fish or ducks both irrigates and fertilizes the garden, and so forth.  

While all of these food sources are familiar to the families, the Casa-Granja involves new ways of thinking about how to house and protect the birds and animals and how to plan their growing spaces to accommodate many food sources, including the vegetable garden and a variety of native fruit trees. 

Your support has made it possible for the Seeds team to develop a palette of species that are well-adapted to local conditions, have good cultural acceptance and are high in nutritional value. With coaching from Seeds' local experts, families are able to produce a steady flow of nutritious food to their own table, and many are beginning to produce enough eggs or extra young chickens or rabbits to sell.  

Your understanding and support have made it possible for the Seeds for a Future team to help these families achieve greater food security and balanced, better nutrition.  

We are very excited that 72 families have successfully started their Casa-Granja, and we want to double this number in the next twelve months.  Along with the 1000+ families which have already participated in our Family Garden and Nutrition programs, your support is truly making a difference in rural Guatemala!  

There is still much to do, and with gratitude for your earlier support, we ask you to renew your commitment and financial support now, so we can continue to help the women and their families in the coming months.

Click the GIVE NOW button below, share this report with your friends and colleagues and follow us on our Facebook page.

One of the most important messages the Seeds for a Future team shares with participating women is that, no matter how simple your kitchen is, a few easy steps can make sure that each nutritious meal is prepared as cleanly as possible. And as with many other lessons, this is best shared as close to home as possible, and by watching and doing.

Last month we held a group meeting -- our most remote yet!  So, several miles over a heavily pot-holed 2-lane road, followed by a few miles down a single narrow cobblestone lane, a sharp right turn, a lot of tricky maneuvering to let another vehicle pass, a dirt track to a dead end.  After leaving the pickup, we each took something -- cooking supplies, an easel, paper, markers, signature sheets -- and walked down a very narrow path with coffee plants and other vegetation leaning in and above us.  At the end of this path, we entered the household space of our local group leader, where a young man was knocking down coconuts from trees and a mini-production line of family members was deep-frying and packaging slivers of crispy platano treats for market day.  

Seeds team members set up the easel, borrowed a table, checked the cooking fire, and women with babies and toddlers soon filled the "classroom".  Today's recipe was a nutritious soup made with vegetables and greens from the home gardens and for protein, chicken livers and gizzards purchased at the local market.  It was exciting to see how interested the women were, how closely they watched and listened.  Several women pitched in to help prepare the ingredients, making sure to practice good kitchen cleanliness, with a lot of good-natured laughter.  Other Seeds' team members gave informative talks while the pot was on the cooking fire.  When the soup was ready, everyone received a bowlful and agreed: quick, easy, very low cost, high in nutrition -- and very tasty!

Those of us fortunate enough to have more resources at our fingertips, to have easy-clean surfaces in our kitchens, gas or electric stoves, and a grocery store just around the corner, often find it hard to realize the challenges that rural women face in a country such as Guatemala.  It is a privilege and a pleasure to share friendship and knowledge with these eager-to-learn women.  

Your understanding and support have made it possible for the Seeds for a Future team to help these families achieve greater food security and balanced better nutrition.  

There is still much to do, and with gratitude for your earlier gift, we ask you to renew your commitment and financial support now, so we can continue to help the women and their families in the coming months.

Click the GIVE NOW button below, share this report with your friends and colleagues and follow us on our Facebook page.