Recovery missions restoring Bluefields Organic Farm
Group seeks to secure chemical‑free food after hurricane
Published:Friday | December 5, 2025 | 12:06 AMPaul H. Williams/Gleaner Writer
Since Category 5 Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28, relief and recovery missions have been unfolding across western Jamaica, the area hardest-hit region.
Local residents, government agencies, NGOs and overseas organisations have been distributing food, care packages, clothing and other essentials. But one group, Restoring Organic Communities (ROC), is focused on organic food security for those who eat only “clean” food free of man-made chemicals.
Melissa devastated organic farms, uprooting crops and crippling production in western Jamaica. In response, The Source Farm in St Thomas, Ujima Naturals Ltd in St Andrew, Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement (JOAM) and the Jamaica Soil Regeneration Project (JENESYS) have teamed up to form ROC. Their immediate focus is the revival of Bluefields Organic Farm in Belmont, Westmoreland — an agro-tourism and educational hub whose plants and greenhouse were mangled by the storm.
The property, owned by Keith R. Wedderburn, has now become the JOAM/JENESYS and Source Farm Community Development Institute (CDI) Hurricane Melissa and Regeneration Hub.
“The JENESYS Project is the main thing why we are in Bluefields because of the demonstration plot … We looked at St Thomas, and St Thomas was not as severely damaged, so we decided to focus on the outreach in the Bluefields area … Anything that is people working organically we try to work and support them, because what ends up happening whenever there’s a storm or any disaster that happens in the island the organic farmers don’t really get any support,” Nicola Shirley-Phillips, Source Farm executive director, told The Gleaner.
“So, we’re here this time to offer some support, whether it is chainsaw-training, setting up the farms so that they can get back into business, so we’ve been doing some things like donating greenhouse, donating things to make their shade house so they can put plants in to start back … then going down to physically help the farmers, moving debris, chainsaw work, chainsaw training …”
Wedderburn also disclosed that “the farmers in the east are also going to be planting up seedlings so that we can transplant them because of course food security is a major issue, with everything being blown away.”
A chainsaw brigade, clean-up mission and greenhouse rebuildingis scheduled for the Bluefields Organic Farm from December 6 to 8.
ROC is also supporting residents’ wellbeing in western parishes.
Over the weekend, medical checks and counselling were held in Mount Airy by Dr Ben Yisrael, Dr David Picking and Nurse Nomi Shirley. On Monday, chainsaw training took place at the Rastafarian Indigenous Village in Irwin, St James.
Similar activities are planned there on December 13 to 16, including a legal clinic, and again on December 20 to 21, alongside a children’s party.
The Seven Rivers Attraction in Hanover will host a clean-up and chainsaw brigade on December 10, while ANR Farms in Perth Town, Trelawny, will hold the same activities.
“We are truly grateful for the incredible support from the JOAM/JENESYS and Source Farm CDI Hurricane Melissa and Regeneration hub. Their presence has brought hope, structure, and steady progress during one of our most challenging seasons,” Wedderburn told The Gleaner.
“They’ve stepped in with genuine compassion and hard work, helping not just the farm, but also the wider community in meaningful ways. We couldn’t have come this far without their dedication and their belief in our recovery mission. We remain thankful, encouraged, and inspired by their partnership. Together, we are rebuilding stronger than before.”