  intricic the Mexico FAO sponsored training for cooks where they were taught how to use more of the local produce in the school feeding program. So cut back on the chow mein, the pasta, the flour, the rice and introduced to our students the local foods. Wow, very good, very good. The cooks were excited during that training, feedback, most of them have started introducing the meals, the recipes that were taught, the principles are more excited and people from out of St. Lucia who have seen the photos of what was produced, they are all excited and want to come and eat on our program if that's how we are moving the school feeding program. So school feeding program is making strides in the positive direction. And we have students who are interested in participating in the banana expo. Great, and you know the thing is I've always said government cannot employ everybody. It's impossible. But if you have an idea and I think that's where this government is going is to encourage people with skills so that they can develop their skills. And that is why in the ministry our tagline is to eat fresh St. Lucia's best. Do you think that enough St. Lucia enough young people are gravitating in that direction? Anybody can answer? And Abhi? Well in my opinion, not all. Some of them just don't want to. Some of them like they don't care about that. Some of them really want to but some of them don't have the how can I say? They don't have the access to the equipments they need to get to do those things. All right, yeah. So suppose even if government creates but government have to come in and create a living environment in terms of safe funding that's another area I think that is required. So that's at least if you have an idea you should know where you can take it to and for you to develop that idea and get it funded. What do you think? That's what is experience with most of the young burden entrepreneurs. They want to start off a business but since they are fresh out of school there is not that financial package available to them. Either you face the bank, take a loan but how are you going to pay back if you do not have a job as yet? So there should be that environment or that grant access to tap into. So you can start your business give you a footing give you a first food forward so that you can develop and thereafter when the business has been established you pick up from there. I think you need seed money you need somebody to start and if I know SLDB is there I'm hoping that government will look into it I think there is something called the blue economy I don't know if that is an area that will cater for young entrepreneur like you who would want to get into that activity and the other thing too the impact it would have on our health too because I think it's better for us to utilize what we grow. And then if that happens then it will our food import bill will be reduced and that's another thing too because in the ministry we have a program which was the 7 crop program and it worked very well it created a dent of 30% within one year so five of those crops we were able to reduce the food import bill so I'm thinking again a lot of those produce then value added can be done and to get to the next level but Abhi what you do tell us exactly what are the products that you do and where do you market those products okay so I make cakes whole cakes cheese cakes cinnamon rolls doughnuts brownies and banana bread I market those products at school in my mother's office in town and also on Instagram and on different social media like Instagram and Whatsapp because these are the two platforms that I use okay great so what's about Jaco valley okay we have about 30 different flavors of fruit pop including about five which includes banana in it we also have the dried herbs and wet herbs and we do chocolate but we incorporate it in our fruit pops and we also deal with teabags we have about 26 flavors of teabags where do you market we market at the schools and little shops in the area we're looking to go out more with more advertising marketing then we're looking to go on the shelves the supermarket shelves soon okay so you have gone through all the grading and evaluation so your labels and everything yes we have labels and everything yes from the school standpoint one of the things I'm hoping and I told the minister this to include a ripe banana in the school feeding program are you all thinking of this we have given thought it has been brought up to top management I am awaiting feedback as to when do we implement local food tastes so much better than imported when you delve into a ripe banana this is so satisfying so we are hoping that it will be introduced revenue permitting finances permitting that it will be introduced throughout the schools island wide and that it becomes a practice a habit so that the children not only eat it at the school but it is carried into the home as well so when the parents go shopping the first thing they would pull up is a hand of ripe banana so if it is instituted from the schools and we hoping that the students will carry along and introduce it to their home but do you think the parents eating ripe bananas at their homes well actually I would hope so because it is what we grow you walk all around St. Lucia you drive all around bananas catch your eye so growing up we used to go beneath the banana plantation and nothing tasted better than attack the banana that's true so if you had that experience as a child I know you would say that I ate too much but we have to bring it down to our children it's not all about the grapes the apples the pears there is much better quality local fresh fruits here that the students need to be introduced to the children need to be introduced to and this would cut down on their expenses as well you go to the supermarket now a pair is whatever price compared to a hand of bananas so parents now have to choose wisely if they need our economy to grow we have to choose local instead of foreign you may want foreign once or twice a year or month but at least support our local first to have that revenue the finances back in our economy circulating I agree and the thing is I think kids have this upper hand on the parents when they get in the supermarket they want grapes, they want apples and they will never say no take a banana instead then we do for a break the agriculture on the stay tuned we'll be back soon FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA FIGLA Welcome back to the program agriculture on the move of course we are here talking bananas and of course we are talking about our X banana expo 2022 the theme FIGLA as you heard the jingle during the break you are participating in the banana expo are you excited come on Abhi tell me something what are you bringing what are you bringing to the fork well like you said everything is banana definitely so for me with my little experience that I got from the school at Saafa we have the main kitchen and we have a pastry kitchen we have two executive chefs and a pastry chef so with the experience that I've got from in the pastry with the pastry chef I can put some of my experience into what I will be doing for sure I will be making banana breads I will be making different types of banana breads some will have chocolate some will have oats some will have raisins I am also making a banana cake also a banana cream tart I am salivating already don't give out all your secrets so these are some of them some of them that I know like if you go on google these are some things that you will find that everybody can make at home with little ingredients banana bread you can use you can use the right banana or you can use right planting in it so these are the some of the different things so why are we looking forward to it will taste better because it's from Abhi definitely the golden tricks you know so tell us about the jack what you are doing we will be having banana pops we have our famous tambam I love that one tamarin and banana that's the bomb we will be having banana and raspberry pops we will be having banana and lime pops we will be having banana flour we will be getting a sample banana flour with fish cakes and we are now experimenting on banana wine so if all goes well we will have that also that is great looking forward to it the schools well the schools are excited a number of schools are on board they are scattered throughout St Lucia it is not concentrated in castries but throughout St Lucia based on the recipes which have been submitted I cannot disclose the recipes but it looks interesting and something that we St Lucia should go out and support the schools they are birding artists who knows that might be the next top chef in there but they need your support we need to go out there and sample what they make give feedback and encourage us encourage the schools to use the local produce but so far a number of schools I have about 20 schools primary and secondary schools on the program and they are rewarded for participating it is not just coming in an exhibit but you are rewarded with tokens from the ministry wow interesting interesting there is something that is worrisome to me in other words what do we do and take it to the next level we had an exhibition I coordinated 2019 on the playing field as a world food day and a health student came up with sweet potato ice cream let me tell you when I tasted this it was like wow and everyone kept looking at one another because I mean what's that but the next thing is okay where do we go with that ice cream again they need the avenue to move from this type of creation so if it has to be marketed they are still at school they are not employed what can or what assistance can they get to market that program it may be it could be out in America or England for sale but without the finances and the support they will not move forward maybe expo St Lucia can tap in and help them market that program you also need to put this thing too because I was thinking of taking it to a business place but at the end of the day I'm frightened that the ticket for days how do that child get compensated for such a wonderful product I really don't know but this is a discussion we need to have to ensure that to encourage young people at the school level the children are very creative but it's sad that they do not get the avenue to further develop that product to market it to make it on a wider scale it is there, they try it out at school yes everybody sample it's a hit but what happens what do we do with them is that we can use and market which would cut down on our import bill cut have the capacity they have the ability and let's nurture it instead of just leaving them there at the secondary school that's it and what do I do with my life from then so instead of having them go on the wrong side they have started that product let's continue so that we can keep them on the right track is it something that the kids can take back their community and they can continue to produce and sell within their own local if they have the support agency yes remember some students they have family who can support them others they do not have that support so my idea it remains there and how can they move forward we need to provide that assistance to them the other thing is at the schools one of the things I remember we had a cassava program with them and they had so many different menus and the sad thing I was unable to capture that in a recipe book form I am hoping that this time around the ministry of education will be able to capture the recipes coming from this expo this we can push for because the students and the teachers went they did development stages to get to the end product and it would be a shame on our part to just leave it as that if we notice that that product is able to move forward marketable let's encourage them let's encourage a child the school to move that product from just that stage to that constitution pack let's move it forward we have a lot of experimental products and it just sitting there somebody from overseas can just come and take it and then it becomes theirs but it was developed here and that person does not get to see the full potential or realize the full potential I just want to mention that the expo is going to be in the constitution pack in castries there are so many activities going to happen at such a 10 o'clock and it's going to end at 6 o'clock in the evening during that expo as you have heard there will be so many derivatives from bananas especially coming from the agro processors the number of persons are going to be there the schools are going to be there there's going to be entertainment there will be banana eating competition ripe banana eating competition and as you could see I have in my hand here a gentleman who somewhere in the 60s he was able to champion the eating of a bunch of ripe bananas and that made the Guinness Book of Records I would love to have some more info on this gentleman I know his name was Joshua McCombie and he was from New Village he is in the states now so those of you probably who know him and can contact him please I would like some contact number for him so first to recognize this gentleman but I think he puts on the map so we are hoping to have this competition so we are hoping to have people who can eat the most bananas we are hoping to see whether they can eat the most bananas within one minute and also the most bananas within that minute without holding the banana and for those of you ladies with your long fingernails we want to find out how fast you can peel a green banana actually helps it helps right so it's going to be exciting I'm sure you're looking forward to it find out what's coming quickly are you looking forward to the yes I am I'm looking forward to it because this is how I can actually push myself more and to get more experience in when it comes to serving and getting customer feedback just from everybody in the public it will be a learning experience but it will also be a social experiment because me I'm the type of person I don't go out and sell my product more like interact with my customers because for me I'm a very timid person okay you'll get stronger when you get them final ones from you quickly just inviting everybody to come and sample all our banana products thank you very much and thank you for supporting us for eating thank you thank you thank you for being here and I'm sure you'll put your best food forward thank you again viewers I'm Philip Sidney say goodbye just remember agriculture is our business and eat fresh so do just best bye