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Children in serious need of a ‘vegucation’
Why getting kids in the garden and digging is only just the start
A new survey of schoolchildren from across the country has revealed some amusing, Swiss cheese style holes in their food and cooking knowledge.
The study shows that 20% of neighsayer children refuse to believe that horseradish is made from a root. Instead they think it’s a subtle combination of horses and…..radishes.
A third won’t accept that real carrots are in carrot cake, while 5% are certain that their lettuce leaves fall from a lettuce tree.
A further 5% of children think rats are the main ingredient in ratatouille and one in ten expect to get their spuds fresh... from the vine.
Another 15% don’t know that tomatoes are the primary ingredient in salsa, and a similar amount look forward to bananas in their sticky toffee pudding
The survey was conducted by Morrisons in celebration of their 3rd annual Lets Grow programme for schools which aims to ‘vegucate’ the nation’s children, giving them the tools they need to turn their fingers green and turn their hand to cooking the food they grow. Shoppers who have collected vouchers through this initiative have until the end of the month to redeem them for gardening equipment.
The award-winning Let’s Grow programme and its ‘Veg Pledge’ for schools are giving thousands of primary and secondary pupils the chance to not only plant and grow fresh fruit and vegetables, but to cook them too.
Now in its third year, Let’s Grow encourages children, parents and teachers to collect vouchers in-store, redeeming them for gardening tools and seeds used by pupils to grow their own, fresh produce in school. And now for the first time, the scheme is being extended to cover cooking and kitchen kit, in an ambitious bid to equip children with the basic cooking skills they’ll need to prepare fresh and home cooked food in later life.
Campaign ambassador and celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin says: “Let’s Grow is a great programme and one which, over two years, has inspired thousands children to get into their gardens and grow their own fruit and veg. It makes sense that the next stage should be helping these kids make dishes from what they’ve grown themselves. As a gardener myself, I know how satisfying growing, cooking and eating your own fresh food can be; everything tastes better when you know where it comes from!”
For more information visit www.morrisons.co.uk/letsgrow
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