GUATEMALA – In their ongoing effort to reduce world hunger, ONE Banana, The Better Banana Company, announced today the most recent results of their Nutritious School Meal Program.
ONE Banana’s Nutritious School Meal Program aims to improve children’s well-being and school performance through daily provisions of nutritious foods to students in the western and southern regional communities of Guatemala, near ONE Banana operations. As part of this initiative, ONE donates one banana per day per student to participating schools to supplement students’ school meals with healthy snacks.
Launched just two years ago, the project has rapidly grown from two to 16 schools and has benefitted 4,000 students. Participating teachers report, and test findings reveal, that school performance has dramatically improved with most students seeing between a 22%-24% grade increase in mathematics and language. At least one school in the village of San José Mogollon revealed that its overall dropout rate reduced by over 60%. Malnutrition indicators also improved remarkably with 34% of children improving to normal growth curves.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, one in nine people, globally, still face hunger and food insecurity every day. ONE Banana is committed to helping change and improve those numbers. “We are dedicated to making the lives of our employees, their families, and the communities in which our company operates, better. It is our responsibility to do our part by initiating hunger relief efforts like the Nutritious School Meal Program. No child should ever go to school on an empty stomach,” says ONE’s Corporate Director Bernhard Roehrs.
ONE Banana hopes to expand the project to other schools and communities throughout 2016. For more information about ONE Banana, please visit their website, http://www.onebananas.com.
ABOUT ONE BANANA
ONE BANANA is a family-owned company with operations in the United States, Europe, Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador. It has emerged as a leader in socially responsible and environmentally sustainable farming. The Company has implemented rigorously developed workplace safety standards, the latest water conservation and rainwater collection technologies and industry-leading worker benefits. Through its parent company, AgroAmerica, ONE Banana’s corporate social responsibility projects include providing access to medical clinics, nutritional programs, and daycare facilities that have benefited more than 19,000 people, across four rural communities in Guatemala.
Source: ONE Banana