In a year and a half, Horta Solidária “gave” 12 tons of food and helped to reintegrate into society 20 inmates or former inmates of prisons in Faro and Olhão. The Food Bank Against Hunger and the company Algar make a positive assessment of this project, which they launched together in March 2016, revealing that the food produced there reached institutions that, together, have more than 18 thousand beneficiaries.
According to Algar, the company responsible for the management of urban waste in the Algarve, the Horta Solidária project has proven to be «an extremely emblematic and significant project, as in addition to the excellent results achieved, it has allowed us to work on very important issues such as social integration, environmental protection and nutritional care, in this case the integration of healthier foods in the diet of needy people throughout the Algarve».
By creating this project, its promoters aimed, mainly, to guarantee an activity that would allow the reintegration into society of inmates of prisons in Faro and Olhão.
“Over the course of a year and a half, around 20 men went through the project, the vast majority already on parole and working. Teams composed, as a rule, of 4 men, carried out activities within the scope of the production of vegetables in organic agriculture, developed on land provided by the Ministry of Agriculture (Patacão, Faro) and as a result of their work, they allowed many needy families supported by the BACF to gain access to a variety of healthy foods», illustrated Algar.
Since the launch of the project, Algar has contributed more than 26 tons of Nutriverde compost, «a 100% natural, environmentally-friendly product, ideal for use as an organic fertilizer and/or substrate that can be used as a production factor in organic farming» .
It was with the help of this compost that more than ten tons of different vegetables were planted and harvested, including lettuce, tomato, pepper, courgette, pumpkin, cabbage, broad beans, onion and sweet potato.
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