University of São Paulo: With food donation, project combines agricultural education and social action at USP in Piracicaba
The Casa do Produtor Rural, from the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture (Esalq) at USP, through the SolidarESA project, donated two tons of eggplant to 14 charities in Piracicaba. The delivery is part of the 2022 campaign, which took place between August and September of this year, with plantings carried out in an agricultural area of the Esalq Genetics Department. The objective is to apply the teaching, research and extension generated at the University in favor of the local community.
Since 2013, more than 14 tons of food have been donated by the project, including beans, corn, potatoes, rice, carrots, beets and zucchini. Eggplant was the food chosen this year for its high nutritional value, with numerous health benefits. In addition, it is a vegetable with a consolidated market, high productivity and profitability, which has excited small horticulturists to use it in the diversification of crops on their properties, aiming at greater profitability. The project also had an excellent yield: around four tons of eggplants per 1,200 m² of planting.
“We offer, on average, 250 meals a day and, of course, this eggplant donation will complement our menu with a healthier diet and will diversify our recipes”, highlights Giovana Rodrigues, nutritionist at the Piracicaba Rehabilitation Center, one of the entities served. for donations.
It is with this work that SolidarESA seeks to unite university extension with solidarity and sustainable agriculture. The distribution of food gives priority to people in situations of social vulnerability and assisted by social entities in the municipality of Piracicaba, who use food to compose their meals.
The solidarity action is formed by students, professors and professionals from the University, in addition to partners such as the Rotary Club of Piracicaba and the Luiz de Queiroz Agrarian Studies Foundation (Fealq).
University extension and citizenship
One of the differentials of the project is the multidisciplinary work, involving four pillars: teaching practice, rural extension, integration with the local community and social action. There are multiple impacts, using agriculture as a powerful tool for exercising citizenship, local social transformation and alignment with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.
“SolidarESA gives back to society a little bit of the benefits it brings us, since society is responsible for maintaining our institution”, emphasizes Professor Pedro Takao Yamamoto, from the coordinating committee of Casa do Produtor Rural. For the head of the Genetics Department, Professor José Baldin Pinheiro, the partnership with Casa do Produtor Rural is very noble. “The social entities we serve are carrying out a very important work for our city. This work has to be recognized and supported by the institution. May this partnership with CPR last for many years to come.”