The Tribune

By CHESTER ROBARDS

Tribune Staff Reporter

crobards@tribunemedia.net

STUDENTS at the North Andros High School are making history, supplying the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort with fruits and vegetables farmed in their school’s backyard.

Guests of the Sheraton will get a very rare treat when they dine at the hotel’s restaurants, according to the property’s general manager, Glenn Sampert, who was eager to have his property take part in the initiative.

“We have the easy job here at the Sheraton and that was really to be the beneficiary of some really fine products today and we are looking forward to the future,” said Mr Sampert. “You had us at hello.”

He said the hotel is considering the creation of special dishes that will highlight the North Andros products.

The Sheraton and the Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Sheraton yesterday to cement the ground-breaking initiative.

Head of the agricultural programme at the North Andros High School, Rai Budhu, said 135 students are farming tomatoes, peppers, parsley, papaya and thyme, which were crops requested specifically by the Sheraton.

The four acres of land on which the crops are being grown is within eyeshot of the students who farm them, said Mr Budhu.

He said during the last harvest season, the school sent several hundred bags of onions and tomatoes to the Sheraton to test their quality and consider buying into the programme. Mr Sampert said his answer was almost an immediate “yes”.

He said: “Farm-to-table initiatives just make sense for a lot of reasons, and partnering with education, partnering with agriculture – it all just is a very smart thing for us to do not only as a country, but as a tourist destination.”

The initiative is a partnership between the Ministry of Education, the Sheraton, the Organisation of American States (OAS), The Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Ministry of Tourism.