Thirty schoolchildren joined Kent potato producer St Nicholas Court Farms at the Kent county Show last week, to encourage visitors to buy local produce.
The pupils, from St Nicholas at Wade Primary School, near Broadstairs, entertained visitors including the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Allan Willett CMG, with a presentation about their recent potato-growing project.
The project, organised by St Nicholas Court Farms in conjunction with Tesco, involved the youngsters tracking the progress of locally grown potatoes from fields in Thanet to the Tesco Extra supermarket at Westwood Shopping Centre.
The class visited St Nicholas Court Farms to see how potatoes are planted, harvested and packed, as well as studying the history of potatoes and their importance as part of a healthy diet. The children grew a variety of potatoes of their own in the playground, including Desiree, King Edwards, Marfona and Maris Piper.
Teacher David Hannan said: “The partnership with St Nicholas Court Farms has been an excellent way to show children how their food is grown. They have gained lots of practical experience growing their own potatoes and have been able to relate this to their work in science. The farm visits have shown them how potatoes are grown and processed on a commercial scale."
Eddie Knowles, marketing manager for St Nicholas Court Farms, added: “This project is now in its ninth successful year and has proved as popular as when it first started. The pupils really enjoy finding out how local potatoes get from field to fork, and get a great kick from growing their own food. The project has been so successful that we are now looking at rolling it out to other Kent schools and local Tesco stores.”
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