NEWS
Tuesday 20 October 2009
800,000 school pupils in England to 'grow their own' by 2011
Over 806,000* youngsters aged 4-16 in England are set to learn vital lessons about food through 'growing their own' thanks to a brand new resource for schools, produced by the UK's leading organic growing charity as part of its work with the Food for Life Partnership.
In the next two years, The Food Growing Manual, written by Garden Organic and funded by the Big Lottery, will help 3,600 schools and just under a million pupils, expand their gardening activities into growing food. The newly devised, free resource for infant, primary and secondary schools forms a major part of a project already transforming school food culture - the Food for Life Partnership (FFLP).
Landing with schools in every region of England signed up to the Partnership, the Food Growing Manual uses practical activities to teach pupils about sowing, growing, nurturing and harvesting their own fruit and veg, helping them gain an appreciation of the full lifecycle of food. It is hoped that this fantastic new resource will inspire more schools to take part in the groundbreaking project.
The resource, which comprises 100 growing instruction cards for fruit, veg, edible flowers, herbs and green manures, six activity posters exploring edible plant parts, seeds, harvesting, making compost, and pests and diseases, accompanied by a DVD and guidance manual, will enable schools to successfully develop their own gardens and produce edible crops for children, parents and teachers to enjoy.
Food for Life Partnership Manager at Garden Organic, Colette Bond, said, “Teaching children to grow food puts them in touch with the land, familiarises them with the seasons and encourages healthier eating. On a wider level it also engages them with the food supply and helps them understand that food isn't instant or 'fast' but that it takes time, energy and nurture to produce something edible.”
“The 'grow your own' revolution of recent years has led to many more schools developing their grounds into allotments and veg plots and tying this activity in with curriculum targets. However making this a success can be difficult without the right information and resources, which is why we developed The Food Growing Manual based on the experiences of our Garden Education Officers, who already assist schools with developing their gardens through the Food for Life Partnership. ”
“Not every school can benefit from the hands on support of a gardening expert but this resource will give 3,600 schools the answers to inevitable questions by covering everything from what to sow, to how to deal with pests and diseases, to when to harvest produce.”
One school that is looking forward to using the new resource is Nettleton Community Primary School near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. School Garden Leader, Francesca Williams said, “Our gardening club is very new, and although we have lots of enthusiasm, the one thing we lack is expertise. The arrival of the Food Growing Manual comes at a fantastic time for us, as it covers just about everything we need to get the school garden started.”
“Using the expert content of the manual, as well as the suggested activities and planting advice, we hope to develop a successful school garden, which will help the children to learn about growing their own food and eating seasonally. We also hope to use the garden to teach the curriculum and to reach out and involve everyone from staff and pupils right through to parents and the community.”
And it is this outcome that Garden Organic hopes will encourage more people to enrol on the Partnership. Colette Bond said, “The Food for Life Partnership is all about a holistic approach to food education, which not only targets young people, but also parents, teachers, school cooks and communities. Garden Organic's role in this is to provide practical guidance and support to get children growing, and the additional work of the partners: the Soil Association, the Heath Education Trust and Focus on Food, provide the experiences for children to harvest, prepare and cook their own food and visit farms. Through this rounded approach we firmly believe that we can help create a healthier, more knowledgeable generation armed with the skills needed to feed it in the future.”
The Food for Life Partnership, led by the Soil Association, aims to reconnect young people with growing, cooking, eating and appreciating climate-friendly, healthy and real food. Many schools on the Partnership are now using produce they have grown in their canteens, helping to make fresh, seasonal, organic produce a regular appearance on school dinner menus.
From now on, all schools signed up to the Food for Life Partnership will receive their own Food Growing Manual resource pack for free. To find out more or to enrol visit www.foodforlife.org.uk
Supporting quotes from Food for Life Partnership schools about the Food Growing Manual:
Franche Primary School in Kiddermister, Worcestershire.
Forest School teaching assistant Mary Bendall said, 'We're already making great progress with our school garden, but this resource will help us take our activities to another level. The growing cards will be a great guide for staff and pupils as we plan what food to grow over the coming year, and the wide variety of plants that the manual covers is sure to spark off some interesting growing experiments amongst pupils!”
“The DVD will also be a really useful tool for all parties involved in setting up and running a school garden as it is a one-stop shop which covers everything from health and safety to fun gardening activities for all ages to enjoy.”
Damson Wood Infant School in Solihull, West Midlands
School Head Teacher, Marilyn Phipps said, “Since joining the Food for Life Partnership our school garden has totally transformed. We now have a curriculum with growing, cooking and farm visits all built in and the buzz around the school over the last year has been fantastic.”
“As well as growing our own, we've also been able to demonstrate the idea of taking the food from pot to plate and our school lunches have included chicken in white sauce with Damson Wood new potatoes, lettuce and radishes, finished off with Damson Wood raspberries!”
“Thanks to the Food Growing Manual, we'll now also be able to take the garden into the classroom and embed our gardening activities further into the curriculum. With the DVD and activity posters, we can make sure that not even wet weather will curb the enthusiasm of our little gardeners.”
Four Dwellings High School, Quinton, Birmingham
Martin Phillips, at Four Dwellings School said, “There is no doubt that growing food in schools has a positive effect on pupils. It gives them practical things to learn with visible results and also gets them outdoors and away from the classroom. What is more, it's also very easy, you simply choose your seeds, sow them and then watch them grow, but the lesson doesn't end there. There is so much more to learn and it is this type of detail, like understanding soil types, food groups, soil fertility and harvesting that the Food for Life Partnership manual will help us to deliver.”
“Furthermore, this gives the pupils the opportunity to become providers of food for their family - to take food home and, perhaps, even be inspired enough to start growing food in their own gardens. In doing so, they develop a range of skills and learn that patience and hard work will yield tangible- and edible – results.”
Notes to editors
- *806, 000 - Figure based on the average sized primary school 2006 as detailed in The Primary Review, The Structure of Primary Education: England and other countries, by Anna Riggall and Caroline Sharp, National Foundation for Educational Research. The Food for Life Partnership estimates that the actual number of children that will come into contact with food growing activities, through receipt of the manual, will be higher than the 806,400* quoted as this figure does not include average secondary school population numbers. http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/Press_and_media/Pressreleases.html
- The Food Growing Manual resource pack comprises: 100 waterproof, growing instruction cards in file box with key cards and glossary cards. Six Activity posters covering: Edible plant parts, Seeds and young plants, Harvesting and storing, Making compost, Pest and diseases, Food growing year. DVD with printable versions of all growing cards. How to Manual.
- To find out more about Garden Organic contact Charlotte Corner, Senior Media Relations Officer, on 02476 217707 or email ccorner@gardenorganic.org.uk.
- For further details of the Food for Life Partnership nationally contact Rikke Bruntse-Dahl, PR & Media Co-ordinator for FFLP, on 0117 314 5145 or email rbruntse-dahl@soilassociation.org.
- Garden Organic has extensive experience of supporting schools to grow their own food through its Garden Organic for Schools project, which was launched in 2000. More than 6,000 schools across the UK are now members of this exciting initiative, which offers them practical organic gardening advice, a quarterly newsletter, Curriculum-based resources and free seeds. To find out more about Garden Organic for Schools call 02476 308238 or visit www.schoolsorganic.net.
- The Food for Life Partnership is a five-year Big Lottery-funded initiative, led by the Soil Association, to transform food culture in schools and communities across England, bringing together the practical expertise of the Focus on Food Campaign, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust.
- The Soil Association is the UK's leading environmental charity promoting sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.
- The Focus on Food Campaign is the leading food education support programme for the teaching of cooking in the UK's primary and secondary schools.
- Garden Organic is the UK's leading organic growing charity dedicated to researching, demonstrating and promoting organic gardening, farming and food.
- The Health Education Trust is the national charity dedicated to initiating and supporting work with children and young adults to encourage the growth of healthy lifestyles.
- To register on the Food for Life Partnership call 01173145180 or email fflp@foodforlife.org
Top of pageGarden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
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