Centreville Community Farm Tackles Food Insecurity and Climate Change

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Agriculture Development Organization (ADO) officially opens its community farm in Centerville on Thursday, which was made possible through a $75,000 donation from Royal Caribbean Group.

The initiative is part of ADO’s wider plan to establish community farms across all 41 constituencies throughout The Bahamas.

ADO’s President Philip Smith says the idea stemmed from his experiences with the Bahamas Feeding Network, an initiative he started to help families struggling with food insecurity.

Philip Smith – President, ADO

“And so, starting that ministry and going throughout The Bahamas and experiencing what people are going through in connection with food really touched my heart. And that was why we came up with this idea that we could make this more sustainable.”

Royal Caribbean Bahamas president Philip Simon also announced an additional $25,000 pledge to help with the farm’s upkeep, and shared why the company felt it was important to partner with the initiative.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture and Centreville MP Jomo Campbell commits support from the ministry, pledging a $10,000 grant.

Campbell says the goal is to help ease the burden of the high cost of living, with a majority of the produce being given back to the community free of charge.

Jomo Campbell – Minister of Argriculture

“Well, the idea around this farm is that 70% of what is harvested here will go to the community free of charge. And so as you see, we were able to sample kale, cauliflower, celery, some of the staples in the Bahamian diet. And that’s what we want to get across to the public at large, that we can grow our own food. “

“We don’t actually have to go into the big food stores or the retail stores for everything. You know, back in the day, our Sunday meals were almost picked literally right out of the garden. And so we wanna reestablish that sort of mindset in the community again.”

One resident in attendance tells Our News she believes the farm will be a major help for many families struggling to afford fresh produce.

Resident –

“I glad, I’m really glad for it, you know, because to help the poor people, some people can’t afford no vegetable like this. So it’s here, they could come and purchase whatsoever they wanted. I’m glad [its] opened up now to the community.”