News
YEAR OF FOOD AND FARMING AT HAMPTON COURT FLOWER SHOW
School may be out for summer – but it’s hoped that the Year of Food and Farming has provided thousands of pupils with valuable experiences which will last them a lifetime. The campaign, which has given young people an insight into the origins of their food and the workings of our farmed countryside, will certainly leave a legacy.
The activities of the Year in the South East are reflected in School’s In – School’s Out, a large educational exhibit in the Growing Tastes marquee (G2) at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (July 8/13 2008).
Taking centre stage is a school garden, a Victorian market porter’s cart laden with local produce, plus a cropped field with a species-rich hedgerow and wildflower margin. The designer is Gillian van der Meer, Year of Food and Farming South East Events Manager and NFU member, who has a dairy farm at Ashburnham, near Battle. She has sourced fresh produce and plants from growers in the South East, cultivating many plants herself from seed.
She says, ‘School’s In - School’s Out celebrates the achievements of young people during the Year of Food and Farming in the South East. The Year has given young people opportunities to experience farming for real and to grow, cook and eat healthy food. Many of them have learned life-skills that they would not have acquired in any normal school year. The display showcases the finest local produce, demonstrating what can be grown in a small school garden plot and replicating a field studies experience in miniature.’
Martin Lowry, Chairman of Year of Food and Farming in the South East, states, ‘The RHS has been a great supporter of the Year of Food and Farming and we are delighted to be able to provide this important feature at Hampton Court. So many schools are developing exciting activities that really get children, teachers and parents involved, and this will lead to a legacy of much better understanding of food and the countryside.’
Already more than 10,000 school children have been able to make visits to farms, horticultural units and the wider countryside during 2007/2008 in the South East thanks to school transport vouchers, supported by the development agency, SEEDA.