Dorset Cereals five point manifesto

Children creating a bed

Our aim is to make it government policy that every school should have an
Edible Playground so that all children can learn where food comes from.

By signing our petition to get every child sowing, growing and eating, we believe we can achieve this! We will be presenting this to The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

And this is our Manifesto...

  1. To give every primary school child in the UK the opportunity to get their hands dirty (at least once) by growing, then cooking and eating their own produce at school. Dorset Cereals Edible Playgrounds have demonstrated that children want to do this, and that it works!
  2. Government and education authorities across the UK to commit part of each school’s budget to help them develop and sustain a fruit and vegetable patch (minimum 2x1m bed) in their grounds. This isn’t expensive, but the amount you can grow from a 2m x 1m bed is amazing, and the growing area can easily be increased with pots and window boxes.
  3. Education authorities to support schools, teachers, parents and staff with the materials (tools / seeds etc) and the information (lesson plans / ideas for how this fits/can support the Key Stage 1 & 2 national curriculum) that they need to make this happen. You don’t need to start from scratch, or do it on your own. There are numerous organizations for example the Royal Horticultural Society / Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens / Eco Schools / Healthy Schools and Unicef’s Rights Respecting Schools who are willing and able to give schools support as well as companies willing to donate seeds and tools. Our gardening friends have given us some great discounts, click here for more info. Our Edible Playground website is also packed full of inspiration, make sure you sign up to our newsletter! PLUS most important of all parents love to get involved and help, especially in the holidays when the plants still need watering.
  4. To keep it fun, for teachers and the children. Be inspired by ‘Cress Heads’, the Dorset Cereals Edible Playgrounds clearly showed that with a bit of imagination growing seeds is fun. Have a look at our projects for more ideas.
  5. The benefits of children learning where their food comes from are immeasurable – so don’t measure them, there shouldn’t be a league table in sight. No more needs to be said. As long as every child gets the chance to eat something that they have grown and cooked at school we are happy. How big the carrot was, or how clever the recipe was isn’t the point.
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