Five primary schools in Kirkby are taking part in the national Young Marketeers programme – a programme where primary school children learn about local and environmental impacts of food, grow their own vegetables, engage in food marketing, and sell their harvests at their community market.
Pupils at Kirkby C of E Primary School, Ravenscroft Community Primary School, Millbrook Primary School, St Maries Catholic Primary School and Eastcroft Park School have started their “get growing” programme in their school gardens.
The Young Marketeers is a food education programme that gives primary school children an opportunity to learn about food production, grow their own veg, and set up a stall at their local community market. During the programme, the programme’s expert gardeners, chefs and programme leads deliver a series of four or five sessions to children. The sessions focus on:
- educating children on local and national food production and waste
- teaching children how to grow and harvest their own vegetables
- sharing marketing tips on how to sell their produce in local markets
Participating children will have an opportunity to discuss the programme through school assemblies, get their hands in the soil through gardening and seed sowing sessions, indulge their creativity through marketing sessions, and manage a market stall at their local street market.
Cllr Christine Bannon, Cabinet Member for Health, said:
“I’m delighted that five of our primary schools are taking part in the Young Marketeers programme, which complements our Health Schools Programme.
“I really look forward to seeing the food that they grow and hearing about their experiences of the programme over the coming months.”
The pupils’ fruit and vegetables will be sold at a local market stall in the borough in July – further details will be shared once confirmed.