Schools celebrate food-growing success - Kitchen Garden Magazine

From strawberry jam to tomato ketchup to winter salad bags: young entrepreneurs from ten London schools showcased their produce at City Hall on October 13. They represented the increasing number of London pupils who are experiencing the benefits of food-growing since the launch of Food Growing Schools: London (FGSL).

The City Hall event was the sixth FGSL Schools Marketplace and saw the launch of the FGSL Interim Report, which sets out the wide-ranging benefits of school food-growing. There was also a Junior Gardeners’ Question Time, chaired by former ‘Blue Peter’ gardener Chris Collins, with food-growing questions answered by children from schools across London.

Junior Gardeners’ Question Time panellists at the Food Growing Schools: London Celebration Event.
Article continues below...
Advert

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.

Pictures: Jane Baker/Garden Organic

FGSL is a Lottery-funded project led by Garden Organic (GO) which aims to get every London school growing its own food. Eighty-seven per cent of London schools are now growing food – up from 72% in 2013, when the project was launched. Nearly 80% of schools engaged with FGSL have reported improved behaviour or attainment in pupils, and one in four schools now uses food-growing as a teaching tool linked to curriculum activities.

Chris Collins, who is also Head of Organic Horticulture at GO, says, “I’m lucky to be out and about meeting students all the time, and it’s been amazing to see the difference Food Growing Schools: London is having. Every school should take advantage and get involved!”

Article continues below...
Advert

Find out more at http://www.foodgrowingschools.org/ and read the Interim Report at http://www.foodgrowingschools.org/why_grow/our_achievements/

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Sign-up to the Kitchen Garden Magazine Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address below to see a free digital back issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine and get regular updates straight to your inbox…

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.