{"id":30149,"date":"2013-01-11T07:55:28","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T12:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=30149"},"modified":"2013-01-11T07:55:42","modified_gmt":"2013-01-11T12:55:42","slug":"%e2%80%8bnorth-andros-high-wins-sheraton-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/01\/%e2%80%8bnorth-andros-high-wins-sheraton-contract","title":{"rendered":"\u200bNorth Andros High Wins Sheraton Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>North Andros High School is setting the pace in linking agriculture to the tourism sector.<\/p>\n

Through an agreement with Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort and Casino, North Andros High is providing that four-star operation with fresh fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very impressed,\u201d said Glenn Sampert, Sheraton\u2019s general manager. \u201cThe fields are larger than what I expected to see, the shade houses and other aspects of the operation are really surprising and I am happy to be here and meet with the students. We already had some produce last year and we were very happy with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with a high level regional and government delegation, he toured the operation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

They included Manuel Messina (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture), Mrs Juliet Mallet Phillip (Organisation of American States), Arnold Dorsett (Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation), and Earlston McPhee (Ministry of Tourism).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very close connection between what is going into the field and our culinary department and our executive chef so we are able to answer questions on type of products we are most interested in and some of the characteristics of them,\u201d said Mr. Sampert. \u201cWe really appreciate having that relationship with the grower.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of the initiative on food costs at the hotel has been neutral, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are paying market prices to the school. So it\u2019s not something where we are asking for a discount nor are we paying above market price. It really is a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resort is also interested in native fruits and berries, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe view what\u2019s been happening so far as being just the beginning,\u201d said Mr. Sampert. \u201cIn the fields right now there are onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. But the more indigenous fruits of The Bahamas are very much something we are interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quality of the North Andros product, he said, \u201cis equal to and in some cases even fresher. So one can arguably say it is as good as or better than what we are able to procure from very large growers in other parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Sampert has been pushing the initiative among members of the\u00a0\u00a0 Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association of which he is a board member.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have already been talking to my colleagues there,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone when they hear about it, it\u2019s similar to my reaction, that that just makes a lot of sense and they are interested. I don\u2019t think I will have to twist any arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

From two small plots 20 years ago when agricultural science teacher Rai Budhu joined the staff, the school today cultivates a variety of items including tomatoes, zucchinis, squash, thyme, cucumbers, onions sweet peppers, and beans on a four-acre spread.<\/p>\n

So successful has been the programme, it is being used as a model to encourage agriculture in other schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the work is done by the students,\u201d said Mr Budhu. \u201cWe have some very keen students. You can depend on them. Give them a task and they will make sure and get it done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important thing is they are being taught how to produce food\u2026and that is what I am satisfied about. I am preparing young minds to feed themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship with Sheraton began last year with hundreds of bags of onions and tomatoes being purchased. It was subsequently reinforced with a memorandum of understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey give us a forecast of what they would need and we make sure that we have the produce to meet their demand,\u201d said Mr Budhu, originally from Guyana.<\/p>\n

Proceeds from agriculture programme have funded many of the school\u2019s projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping to make much more money now that we have a buyer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Their next project is construction of an agricultural block on the school\u2019s campus, Queen\u2019s Highway, Nicholl\u2019s Town.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the time it started, this has been a self sustaining programme,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did not depend on any external agencies to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school use to have a livestock programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts difficult to continue with livestock like chickens, goats and sheep because of the cost of the feed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to teach the economic aspect of agriculture and if the children see they are not making a profit, it would be senseless. So, until we can get feed at a cheaper price or we produce the raw material to make feed in this country, I don\u2019t see livestock as a feasible alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlston McPhee, director, Sustainable Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, sees more opportunities as agriculture links with tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to encourage other hotels to follow the leadership of Glenn Sampert and Sheraton and as responsible corporate citizens to really contribute to the development of this country by at least seeing how best they can source some of their food items locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want them to compromise quality or price but somewhere along the road we can do something to ensure that we reduce our food import bill,\u201d said Mr Sampert.<\/p>\n

Arnold Dorsett, BAIC\u2019s assistant general manager for agriculture hoped the initiative did not end when the students graduated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are continuing to do an excellent job and we would like to see them get a piece of land and generate some revenue for themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to see students leave North Andros and go to Nassau to be unemployed when they can be here working and generating a source of income.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it would be good to see the Government consider giving portions of land to graduates of this programme so that they can get into their own farming projects.<\/p>\n

By Gladstone Thurston<\/span><\/em>
\nBahamas Information Services<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Andros High School is setting the pace in linking agriculture to the tourism sector, providing the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort and Casino with fresh fruits and vegetables. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[491],"tags":[999],"class_list":["post-30149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-north-andros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}