Youngsters in Herefordshire are learning about the UK’s seasonal fruit and vegetable offer, as part of a new countywide scheme.
Herefordshire Healthy Schools and Orleton Primary School have joined forces with county author Joanne Roach to launch the Foodies Book Project.
Roach says: “I have two children aged three and five and we have our own vegetable patch. Our local school used to visit us to see the vegetable patch and we were amazed at how many of the children didn’t know what they were.”
This led to the author penning a series of 12 books - one for every month of the year - set in a vegetable garden, with all the characters being British fruits and vegetables. Each book includes some factual information about the star of the book, and a child-friendly recipe. There are also activities to encourage children to taste seasonal produce, think about what makes a healthy diet and to become familiar with how fruit and vegetables look, feel and smell.
Under the project, every three-, four- and five-year-old in the county will get a free book and take part in fun food activities.
Roach adds: “I’ve been taking the books to festivals and the response has been really good. I went to the food festival at Ludlow and there were a lot of teachers from this county and surrounding counties who were very interested in them.”
The books were also showcased at the launch of the Year of Food and Farming. For more information and to see the book of the month, visit www.thefoodiesbooks.com
