Three communities in the Western Division were trained on healthy food preparation, food preservation and value-adding this week by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) as part of its Fiji Circular Economy and Healthy Living Project (FCEHL).
Thirty women and men from Lololo Pine Station, Vadraiyawasewa of Lautoka and Nagado Village in Sabeto, Nadi attended the two-day training to raise awareness on the importance of healthy eating and also to teach them how to maintain healthy diets from preserving vegetables and fruits.
Lautoka project manager Roselyn Prasad said the primary objective of food preservation was to allow people to maintain a healthy diet throughout the year by preventing food spoilage until it could be consumed.
“Gardens often produce too much food at one time—more than what can be eaten before spoilage sets in.
So whatever is in season, we need to preserve it for later use and that ensures that we maintain a healthy diet throughout,” Ms Prasad said.
Asalusi Dawai, 25, of Nagado Village said the training had allowed him not only to learn more about the importance of keeping a healthy diet but also how to maintain it.
“What a good experience for me. It’s my first time learning this and I can’t wait to go back to my village and share what I had learned from the training. As a youth, I am so glad to have been chosen for this program.
There is so much food around the village, but we lack the knowledge to use them to help build a healthy and resilient community,” Mr Dawai said.
Participants were taught how to make cassava flour, lemon sauce, banana chips, to name a few. These participants had previously completed a seven-week healthy lifestyle program at the end of last year.
The FCHEL project is a three-year program, an extension from the Live More Abundantly Program funded by ADRA Australia and is implemented in the Western and Central divisions.
It is now focused on a holistic approach and covers broader areas to achieve the objective of having a “Healthy Environment, Healthy You”.
It promotes a healthy environment and lifestyle to be able to respond to the risks of non-communicable diseases and other health threats.
