Old coconut skill gets new World Food Day focus
Can you husk a coconut? Increasing numbers of the country’s children can’t, the Agriculture Ministry has found.
So to promote this once traditional skill – and the coconut’s value for food and nutrition – the ministry is running a competition for schools.
It is amongst new features of World Food Day, being celebrated on Rarotonga next month.
Coconut husking joins the popular school floral arrangements competition in the wide range of activities, Agriculture ministry head Nga Mataio told the Herald.
World Food Day is celebrated around the world each year. It marks the date the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was set up.
Local celebrations are Friday 20 October at Punanga Nui Market, Mataio said.
“Husking a coconut used to be an automatic thing in the past,” he recalled.
“When I was small everyone knew how to.”
But now the young have many other distractions and the skill is being lost, especially on Rarotonga.
Mataio said the idea for the schools competition came when one of his staff said: “You know, a lot of kids don’t know how to husk coconuts.”
Mataio said the theme the FAO has set for this year’s worldwide celebration of World Food Day is “Invest in Agriculture for Food Security”.
The FAO defines food security as when everyone has enough safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.
Mataio said among features of the day will be the Agriculture Ministry showcasing what it can do to help ensure food security locally.
World Food Day runs from 9am to 1pm, and other features include:
· A new booth-by-booth presentation explaining what is on display
· Emphasis on local food crops, and how to grow them
· Strong private sector participation in partnership with the ministry
· The popular seedlings sale at giveaway prices to encourage more growing of fruit and vegetables
· And livestock, including pigs and goats, and possibly ducks.
Ministry staff are working to make sure this is a day for all the family to enjoy and be involved in, Mataio said.
He promised: “Everything on the day is bargain prices.”
ABOUT THE COCONUT:
The international Coconut Research Centre says the coconut provides a nutritious source of meat, juice, milk and oil that feeds and nourishes populations around the world.
Coconut is highly nutritious and rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals, the centre says. It classifies the coconut as a “functional food” because coconuts provide many health benefits beyond their nutritional content.