One in five children in South Africa goes to bed hungry each night, and so in line with Danone Clover's international mission statement - “To bring health through food to as many people as possible” - in South Africa, the Danone Clover Kids “Caring for Our Children” campaign has now aligned itself with the Food Gardens Foundation, which will focus on children and nutrition in particular. Danone Clover has added the Food Gardens Foundation to its corporate social responsibility portfolio of beneficiaries.
The Food Gardens Foundation was established in 1977 and teaches people how to establish and maintain their own food gardens on plots of land as small as a door: two by one metres. Even such a small piece of properly tended garden can support nine rows of vegetables grown with very little water. Carrots, spinach, tomatoes and other nutritious crops are ideal for these tiny food gardens, as more and more people are discovering.
Even though the foundation supports the needy through education and seed, it depends heavily on contributions, hence Danone Clover's adoption of the organisation.
For the initial roll-out, the company has chosen disadvantaged schools that currently receive limited support. Also taken into account will be the number of children who can benefit as well as their vulnerability. Priority will be given to schools in which the children include many orphans, abused children, child heads of households, and so on.
The foundation will give the schools a two-day training course and continued coaching and support for each garden, with eight visits a year. Able children, parents and teachers will all participate in the creation and maintenance of the gardens.
The benefits include sustainability, skills development and empowerment of each school and local community, and children will benefit in particular through the alleviation of hunger and malnutrition.
“We aim to raise funds for Food Gardens Foundation,” says Stéphane Jacqmin, marketing director at Danone Clover. “With that kind of aid, Food Gardens Foundation, together with us, will be able to help create urgently required food gardens in underprivileged schools, primarily to feed these vulnerable children, increasing the quantity and quality of their meals and subsequently providing a sustainable livelihood for them now and into the future.”
“For every one of our products, including yoghurt, dairy-fruit juice blend, maas, and Ultramel custard purchased during the winter months of June and July, consumers will be contributing to the creation of much needed sustainable food gardens. We shall be marketing the Danone Clover Kids ‘Caring for Our Children' campaign as usual to the nation's generous consumers, who we know will support this cause with their shopping choices. Additional ways to contribute to the campaign will be made available to consumers on our website - www.danoneclover.co.za.
“The successful creation of food gardens in schools will assist in feeding approximately 200 000 school children annually, alleviating childhood hunger on a daily basis. Assisting with feeding a hungry child and creating wholesome nutrition is essential in South Africa today, as no child deserves to go to bed hungry,” concluded Jacqmin.
