The North Andros High School has earned the distinction of being the first school in the nation to participate in a “Farm to Table” initiative after it inked a deal with a leading resort to serve as one of its primary providers of produce.

On Tuesday, administrators from the school, as well as senior officials from the Ministries of Education and Tourism, and the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, attended a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Education acting on behalf of North Andros High and the Cable Beach Resort.

Under the agreement, the North Andros High Farm will become one of the leading suppliers of produce to Sheraton.

The school, which sits on acres and acres of land, decided years ago to use some of that land to begin farming. Today, it has a full-fledged farm in its backyard complete with tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, parsley and thyme.

Officials from the Sheraton Resort soon learned of the work being done by the 10th, 11th and 12th graders who are a part of the farm programme that they eventually agreed to allow North Andros High School to become one of the hotel’s largest produce providers.

“Farm to table initiatives just makes sense,” said Glenn Samper, general manager of the Sheraton.

“Partnering with education and agriculture is just a very smart thing for us to do not just as a country but as a tourist destination. Visitors to The Bahamas are looking for experiences – they are looking for indigenous experiences – they want to come to The Bahamas and understand what it is like to live here and they want to have culinary experiences.”

The programme is a partnership between the Ministries of Tourism and Education and the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.

Principal of North Andros High School Terrice Curry said this partnership helps to ensure that quality standards are maintained.

“One of the things that I appreciate about this partnership is that they are willing to train us and work with us on any number of issues – whether it is in transporting, food housing, packaging or anything else – we have our partners who are working with us and helping us to improve skills,” Mrs. Curry said.

Education and tourism officials said that they are hoping to get more hotels and resorts involved in the programme as well as making North Andros High a model for schools across the country.

North Andros High School delivered its first shipment of produce to the Sheraton earlier this year and expects to make a second shipment in November.