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HOME GARDEN TECHNOLOGY LEAFLET 2

GROWING PLANTS FOR DAILY NUTRITION

Nutrition focuses on all aspects of food and how it is used in the body. Most people eat because they feel the sensation of hunger. But this sensation only tells them they need to eat, it does not tell them what to eat. This leaflet gives a description of some of the main nutrients in food, and explains why a combination of nutrients is needed daily, and which home garden foods provide those nutrients.

FOOD IS MADE UP OF A COMBINATION OF NUTRIENTS

Food is made up of a combination of nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and vitamins and minerals. We need to eat enough of each nutrient in order to produce energy for working and playing, for growth, for repairing the body and for staying healthy.

Many foods contain several nutrients. For example, maize, groundnuts and cowpeas contain carbohydrates and fats, which provide energy, as well as protein and small amounts of vitamins and minerals. Green leafy vegetables (e.g. pumpkin leaves) and orange-coloured vegetables and fruits (e.g. pumpkins, carrots, papayas) are rich sources of vitamin A and some vitamin C. Animal foods such as meat, fish, chicken and eggs are rich sources of protein, as well as of essential vitamins and minerals including iron, zinc and vitamin A. Table 1 provides a list of home garden foods and their particular nutrients.

NUTRIENTS ARE NEEDED TO KEEP THE BODY HEALTHY AND ACTIVE

Plants require varying types and quantities of nutrients to stay alive and healthy at various times in their life cycles. In the same way, people need a sufficient amount and variety of nutrients - from the time they are conceived to their old age - in order to stay healthy, grow normally and have enough energy for work and play. The amount of each nutrient that a person needs depends on many things: whether that person is young or old; male or female; pregnant or lactating; or ill or well; or on how much energy that person requires for work. Pregnant or lactating mothers, especially, must have enough nutrients to ensure their own health as well as the proper growth, mental development and good health of their unborn babies and infants. Small children also have critical nutritional requirements if they are to grow and develop properly and have good health.

VARIETY IN FOOD SUPPLIES ENSURES GOOD NUTRITION

As a general rule, in order to get enough nutrients for the body's physical and mental functions to work properly, each person must eat a variety of foods every day. Plant foods from the home garden, such as cereals, roots, tubers and legumes provide significant amounts of energy and protein and must be eaten daily. Animal foods, such as meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese and milk, also should be eaten as often as they are available. Green leafy vegetables and orange- and yellow-coloured fruits provide essential vitamins and some minerals and are an essential component of the daily diet. Most fruits and vegetables taste better and are more nutritious when they are eaten fresh. Children especially like ripe fruits. They taste better because they are full of sugars and vitamins. (Remember that soft, ripe fruits, such as papayas and mangoes, and tender green leaves are easily damaged on trips to or from the market. Handle and wrap them carefully and store them in a cool place.) Table 1 provides a list of all the major foods that can be grown in a home garden and that provide ingredients for daily family meals.

MAKE A KITCHEN GARDEN

The easiest way to get a variety of nutritious foods on a daily basis is from a kitchen garden (see Figure 1 and Home Garden Technology Leaflet 15, "Intensive vegetable plots"). Located near the kitchen, this garden can be fertilized with kitchen waste and watered quite easily. While a mother is preparing a meal, she need only take a few steps outside to pick green leaves, beans, spices, herbs, or fruits from such a garden. This saves time as well as cost, and ensures that all meal ingredients are fresh and full of nutrients.

FIGURE 1
A kitchen garden

TABLE 1
Home garden crops that are rich in key nutrients

Energy	Protein	Fat	Vitamin A	Vitamin C	Iron
Avocado Bambar groundnut Banana/plantain Barley Breadfruit Cashew nut Cassava Coconut Enset Groundnut Maize Millet Oil from groundnut, maize, nug, safflower, soybean, sunflower or other oilseed Oyster nut Rice Shea butter nut Sorghum Sweet potato Taro Teff Wheat Yam	Bambara groundnut Baobab seed Beans/peas Cowpea Eggs/milk/ cheese Groundnut Kapok seed Meat/chicken, fish Melon and pumpkin seeds Oyster nut Pigeon pea Some insects and caterpillars Soybean	Avocado Bambara groundnut Butter Coconut cream Groundnut Oil from groundnut, maize, nug, safflower, sesame, soybean, sunflower or any other oilseed Shea butter nut Some insects and caterpillars Soybean	Amaranth or African spinach Bean leaves Bitter leaf Carrot Cassava leaves Cat's whiskers (Cleome gynandra) Chillies Jute Kale Liver Maize (yellow) Mango (ripe) Okra Papaya (ripe) Pumpkin Rape Red palm oil (unrefined) Rosella Sweet potato leaves Sweet potato (yellow- or orange-coloured)	Baobab fruit Cabbage Cashew nut Citrus Custard apple Guava Mango Papaya (ripe) Passionfruit Pineapple Sweet pepper (capsicum, if orange) Sweet potato (yellow- or orange-coloured) Tomato	Beans/peas* Kidney Liver Meat/chicken, fish Some green leafy vegetables*

^* Absorption of iron in these foods is increased by combining them with vitamin-C-rich foods, for example, by eating an orange or guava at the end of a meal.