POOLES PARK PRIMARY school in Islington, London, has won ‘The Best School Community Initiative’ at this year’s Soil Association Organic Food Awards.
The Best School Community Initiative was open to all Food for Life Partnership schools in England. Entrants are judged on their ability to demonstrate a significant contribution to organic principles and the impact of this on the wider community.
Pooles Park took the category with their Global Food Garden, an initiative where the children are responsible for growing organic, global food from seed. As well as a mini orchard and vegetable garden the children also manage hens and compost. Workshops around organic gardening are open to pupils’ families and the wider community and four plots at the school are leased, for free, to families without a garden at home.
Greg Crawford, Head Teacher said “We are delighted to have won this award. We passionately believe in the importance of children learning where their food comes from and growing food themselves. Not only do the pupils now grow food that goes into the school kitchen, but there are children growing salad on their balconies in flats across Islington. They have a real sense of pride in their school garden and new skills [and] the whole school is so excited to have received this national award from the Soil Association.”
The annual Organic Food Awards are run by the Soil Association and supported by Seeds of Change. Now in their 27th year the awards celebrate the best sustainable food and drink initiatives in the UK.
The rest of the Organic Food Awards winners will be formally announced on 19 September at the biggest wholefood market in the world, Wholefoods’ Kensington High Street branch. The announcement will be made as part of this year’s Organic September, a celebration of all things organic.
