The next Jamie: Blue Peter gardener launches campaign

With the school summer term approaching, Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins has put down his spade to call on the Government to ensure that every child has the chance to have a go at growing their own while at school.

Backed by Emmerdale actor Lyndon Ogbourne, children's author Michael Morpurgo, green author Dominic Murphy, Rosie Boycott, the chair of London Food Board, and a coalition of charities including the Royal Horticultural Society, Good Gardeners Association, Garden Organic and the Children's Food Campaign, the campaign highlights the health, education and environmental benefits of food growing, and calls for it to be incorporated as part of a real food education for every child.

The campaigners want the next Secretary of State for Education to ensure that every school has space for food growing, training for teachers, and Ofsted inspections check that food growing is being taught.

Chris Collins, Blue Peter Gardener, said:

“I've been fortunate enough to engage children in the fine art of gardening for a number of years now.  It is a subject that comes naturally to them.  Let us take advantage of this and use the vehicles of growing food and the school environment to improve their lives, both in terms of the food they consume and their physical and spiritual wellbeing.”

Lyndon Ogbourne, actor on ITV soap opera Emmerdale, said:

“I'm a keen cook and have previously worked with children, so I know that teaching them to grow and cook food is really important.  I think that making sure every child gets the chance to grow food at school is a fantastic idea, so I hope that this campaign is a success.”

Michael Morpurgo, children's author and founder of the Charity Farms for City Children, said:
“Children need to connect with the sources of their food.  Growing their own produce - in schools, at home, on allotments - is a fine way to achieve this.  They respond so directly and learn so quickly through practical, purposeful tasks, such as digging, sowing, weeding.  Whether in a city allotment, or in their school grounds, or on a farm in the countryside, today's children have so much to gain from getting out there and gardening.”

Dominic Murphy, author of The Playground Potting Shed: A Foolproof Guide to Gardening with Children, said:
“I know plenty of teachers who would love to spend more time helping children learn about growing food, but there's not enough support from the Government and they have to do it in their spare time.  The Government makes all the right noises – but too often they rely on volunteers to do the work on the ground.”

Rosie Boycott, the chair of London Food Board, said:

“It has been shown that kids who grow their own go on to eat more healthily and appreciate good, nourishing food. Many kids in cities like London don't know the magic of seeing a seed flourish into an item you can eat, or even the names of common vegetables. This is what we want to help schools conjure up in London and across the UK to create a nation of micro farms.”

Jackie Schneider, coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, said:

“The UK faces huge challenges in addressing both childhood obesity and climate change.  At the moment there are some fantastic examples of schools using food-growing to engage their pupils with healthy eating and environmental awareness, yet this is far from the norm, and many children are simply missing out.”

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For further information and interviews, please contact Jackie Schneider/Christine Haigh on 0203 5596 777 or 07795 213425 (Jackie) / 07870 577934 (Christine) or Jackie@sustainweb.org / Christine@sustainweb.org

Case study examples (including images) of successful food-growing projects in schools are available.

Notes to editors:

1) The Children's Food Campaign wants to improve children's health and well-being through better food - and food teaching - in schools, and protecting children from junk food marketing. We are supported by over 300 organisations, almost 300 MPs and 12,000 members of the public. The Children's Food Campaign is coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming and funded by the British Heart Foundation.

2) For more information about the campaign, visit https://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/food_growing_in_schools

3) The Food growing in schools campaign is supported by the Academy of Culinary Arts, the Children's Food Campaign, Farming and Countryside Education, Farms for City Children, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, the Food for Life Partnership (which includes Focus on Health, Garden Organic, the Health Education Trust and the Soil Association), Garden Organic, the Good Gardeners Association, the Organic Research Centre, the Royal Horticultural Society and School Food Matters.

4) Micheal Morgurgo founded the charity Farms for City Children in 1976 with his wife Clare.  The charity is part of the coalition of groups supporting the new campaign.  Liz Owens, Chairman of Farms for City Children, is a former inner-city head teacher who pioneered the promotion of healthy eating in schools.  She was awarded a Pride of Britain award for this work in 2005.

5) Capital Growth school is a competition for primary schools in London who are developing new food growing spaces. Supported by the Mayor of London and Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food, it is part the wider London scheme Capital Growth whose aim is to get 2012 new community food growing spaces by 2012.  For more info see www.capitalgrowth.org/schools.