Scoping Visit Highlights Opportunities to Strengthen Links Between School Gardens and Nutrition

To pave the way for improved school-based nutrition, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), together with Helen Keller International, conducted a scoping visit on April 17–19, 2024 to assess school garden and canteen integration in three target schools in Cavite: Upli Elementary School (small), Malinta Elementary School (medium), and Maguyam Elementary School (large).

The visit aimed to understand the current operations of school canteens and gardens and explore how these can be enhanced to support child nutrition, particularly through home-grown food systems. Through focus group discussions with Grades 4 and 5 teachers and school canteen managers, and in-depth interviews with canteen staff, the team evaluated existing practices and potential gaps.

A brief project orientation was conducted for school heads, Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) coordinators, and key staff, followed by school garden tours and direct canteen observations.

Key Findings:

• Gardens, though dry due to the season, still supported fruit trees and hardy traditional vegetables.
• Upli and Maguyam reported that vegetables from the gardens are occasionally used in canteen-prepared meals, and excess produce is shared with students or sold to visitors.
• All three schools serve only morning snacks, as classes are half-day due to high heat index, limiting the opportunity to serve full meals.
• Despite these challenges, teachers and canteen staff expressed interest in strengthening the link between the garden and the canteen for more sustainable nutrition support.

Next Steps

Findings from this scoping visit will inform the design of future interventions under the Fueling Bright Futures project, including capacity-building for integrating garden harvests into canteen meals, identifying heat-resilient crop varieties, and improving garden-canteen coordination mechanisms.