More than two million children have been reached by Potato Council's ‘Grow Your Own Potatoes’ project, which educates children about the importance of food, farming and healthy eating, and is now in its tenth year.
Nearly 15,000 schools were involved in the initiative this year, with access to free growing kits and supporting classroom activities as well as advice and assistance from growers and suppliers.
The hands-on activity brings the project to life, helping schools engage and educate children, with the added excitement of trying to grow the largest crop of potatoes to win prizes for their school.
Seasoned growers at Delabole Community Primary School in Cornwall took the competition title, after turning out an impressive 5,740g of Rocket potatoes, supplied by Cygnet PB.
Their superb efforts were rewarded with a Marmax Octobrunch Picnic Table with built-in benches for the children to enjoy.
Regional winners were also identified, each using different varieties of seed potatoes supplied by local producers.
With registration now open for 2014, there are opportunities for the industry to support the project by supplying Safe Haven accredited and fast growing seed potatoes, or simply raising awareness of the project through local networks, agricultural societies and with schools directly.
Sue Lawton, education co-ordinator for Potato Council, said: “It is fantastic to see the positive role the project plays in connecting pupils with food and farming. The initiative has received superb feedback from teachers and pupils alike; with children enjoying the hands-on activities and the chance to ask questions, while teachers enthuse about the extensive range of online resources available to suit all teaching methods and modules.
“The project really has gone from strength to strength and to celebrate its tenth anniversary, we’re hoping to break participant records in 2014. We already have over 7,500 schools signed up to take part, and we hope the industry can help increase numbers, as well as provide on-going support to ensure potatoes are brought to life in schools and most importantly enjoyed by future generations.”
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