Tropical Vegetables Festival Set for December
A Tropical Vegetables and Root Crops Festival organised by Arona’s Marketplace founder Arona V. Forbes is scheduled for December at Noel Lloyd Park. The event aims to recognise local producers, showcase school gardening programmes, and promote healthier locally grown food under the theme 'Agriculture Revive and Thrive in 2025'.
Forbes, owner of Arona’s Marketplace and a former Chief Agriculture Officer, has announced a Tropical Vegetables and Root Crops Festival scheduled for December at Noel Lloyd Park. Forbes, who retired from the Department of Agriculture in 2018, said she launched the festival after observing a decline in local agricultural activity. “The activities that used to be done are no longer there, so since I am still in agriculture and I am in it full-time, I felt it necessary for this festival to come about,” she said, adding that the event’s theme will be 'Agriculture Revive and Thrive in 2025'.
The festival is designed to raise the profile of Virgin Islands producers and reconnect residents with local food production. Vendors will be invited to display and sell produce, while schools with gardening programmes will be encouraged to enter a competition to highlight youth involvement in growing food locally.
As the name suggests, the event will focus on vegetables and root crops. Planned activities include a veggie trivia and a cooking competition in which cooks must prepare dishes using a specific product chosen by Forbes. A panel discussion will also feature representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture, and farmers, giving producers a direct platform to share the challenges they face.
Forbes emphasised the importance of including producers in discussions affecting their livelihoods. “Often times, when you go to a training, stuff is already prepared and the decisions are already made in those, but the farming community whom it would affect they don’t really have a say,” she explained.
The festival’s organisers hope the panel will foster more meaningful dialogue so farming voices are heard before policies are finalised. Forbes called on residents to support the festival and the wider push to revive agriculture in the territory, noting health and food-safety benefits of local produce. “Most of the stuff that is imported they are full of chemicals and preservatives... local production, even though it may be small, is very important because it is grown in a more healthy way,” she said.
Organisers hope the Tropical Vegetables and Root Crops Festival will become an annual fixture for the BVI, providing regular recognition for producers and encouraging greater food security and community involvement in local agriculture.
Primary source: VINO