2010 Highlights
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 photo by KIPPA MATTHEWS Briony Coolledge shows the fruit of the students’ labour at Kingsway school in Goole Youngsters who get dug in are eating more fruit and vegetables, making them healthier and happier
By Mark Jewsbury and Jonathan Owen
Briony Coolledge is enthusiastic about maths these days. But ask her about her new-found fondness for the subject and she will enthuse about the fun she had planting and measuring the metre-squared raised seed beds in her school garden.
“I love sowing the seeds,” the 10-year-old said. “I love watching them grow. I especially enjoyed planting the vegetables. I love working outside and it’s great fun when you eat things such as raspberries and strawberries.” Briony is a pupil at Kingsway Primary School in Goole, Yorkshire, where the school garden has flourished as part of The Independent on Sunday’s Let Children Grow campaign. The garden is “embedded into the curriculum”, Liam Jackson, the school’s headteacher said. “Once we got them outside we found they were engaging more. Teaching English is key, and we have made a lot of use of the garden, especially with creative writing. We have had the children keeping a diary and writing about being lost in the garden,” he said.
Anne-Marie Preston, 10, said: “Being outside is fantastic, much more fun than being in class. I love learning about the outdoors.” Finley Dance, 10, like most of the school’s year five, agrees it is fun, but the educational value has not escaped him. He said: “I had heard people talk about sowing a seed, but I didn’t know what it was until I did it myself.” A new study this week backs the IoS campaign, which aims to get all primary schools in the UK to provide some practical gardening for pupils. Research by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), to be published tomorrow, reveals that school gardens boost children’s development, teaching life skills and making children healthier and happier. The study of 1,300 school teachers and 10 schools taking part in the RHS’s Campaign for School Gardening also highlights the ways school gardening increases the willingness of children to eat a wider range of vegetables and fruit. “Work in the garden was frequently reported as an instrument to improve children’s self-esteem, particularly for those who lacked confidence and self-belief”, it reported. Simon Thornton-Wood, the RHS’s director of science and learning, said: “[Gardening in schools] has transformed their whole learning environment. Over the next three years, the RHS intends to train 4,500 teachers in how to integrate gardening into the curriculum. At present, only one in four primary teachers uses gardening to teach. Television gardener and writer Alan Titchmarsh said: “From the minute my grandfather took me to his allotment, I was hooked. Watching how plants grew and getting my hands dirty brought fun and learning together. Gardening at school brings benefits every child should get the chance to enjoy.” It’s the summer doldrums but work on this Conf. never ends. Our title – Generation Organic – our tagline – ‘celebrating 30 years for the original green movement’ – our excitement – knowing that next January when the snow is flying, many an organic enthusiast will be heading to Guelph, like “[fill in your favourite saying]“……. so stay tuned ! The Manager’s favourite saying or comparison would be “like butterflies to the sweet nectar”…… but please send along your comparison and we’ll publish it. Growers: what has been your biggest challenge this summer and how will it affect your crop marketing? Do you think that organic twinkies can be an important part of a person’s diet? The Canadian Urban Institute in collaboration with the Cities Centre, University of Toronto present: The Edible City: Where is Food on the Election Agenda? This latest session from the Election Issues Series is presented by The Canadian Urban Institute and the Cities Centre, University of Toronto. How should we think about food? According to new Metcalf Foundation reports edited by Philippa Campsie, we need to think and act very differently about how we grow, process, distribute and consume our food. Improved access to healthy and abundant locally-produced food is a worthy goal shared by the City of Toronto’s Board of Health, which just adopted “Cultivating Food Connections: Toward a Healthy and Sustainable Food System for Toronto” – 29 initiatives that promise to create a culture of “food systems thinking” within the municipal So with all this positive thinking, why should food be seen as an issue in the lead-up to Ontario’s municipal elections in October? One part of the answer can be found in a report to be issued by the Martin Through its trend-setting Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC), Toronto’s efforts to promote food security have won respect internationally. Over a 20 year period, using the unique convening powers of food, the TFPC has brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from across Toronto, the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Canada The TFPC’s recently retired coordinator, Wayne Roberts, has also been vocal about the opportunity to realign the vested interests engaged within the food system. He will discuss moving from the “old” food system to the “new” – blending the best of both in a series of innovative new partnerships. Join us at Metro Hall on the 15th to add Speakers:
Registration Rates: Members, $32; Non-Members, $40 This email is sent from: Series Sponsor:
If you are an organic grower dealing with less than ideal weather, what is your game plan? For your operation, what is ‘ideal weather?’ |
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30th Annual Guelph Organic Conference ©2010 | acc |
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