Local primary school children will become market traders for one day next week, as they sell their school-grown fruit and vegetables to the public at Liverpool ONE, raising money for a food redistribution charity.
The children will be selling their produce on Tuesday 11 July from 12pm to 2pm, at Paradise Place within Liverpool ONE (outside John Lewis & Partners).
The programme, called Young Marketeers, is run by the charity School Food Matters, and gives children the opportunity to grow food from seed with the help of expert gardeners, before harvesting and selling their fresh and tasty produce to their local community.
Dozens of enterprising children from eight participating schools will sell potatoes, carrots, chard, herbs, raspberries and more at their stalls on the day, putting the marketing training they’ve had into practice.
All the money raised at the sale will be donated to FareShare Merseyside, which redistributes surplus food to vulnerable people in the area.
School Food Matters Development Manager Dela Foster said:
“Over the 12 years we’ve been running this much-loved programme, thousands of children have had the opportunity to learn about food through hands-on cooking and food growing. It’s important that children know that food starts in the soil, not in the supermarket. It’s also about reconnecting children with nature. As one of the pupils said, ‘Planting is our own way of communicating with the earth’. Clearly this is not only a joyful programme, it’s a vital one for children’s health and wellbeing.”
School Food Matters teaches children about food through a range of engaging school projects and works to improve children’s access to healthy, sustainable meals during their time at school.
This is the fourth year the charity has delivered Young Marketeers outside of London, where the programme began in 2012. School Food Matters is calling out to local organisations and businesses interested in promoting food education and sustainability to get involved and ensure the programme can continue in Liverpool both next year and beyond.
In a 2022 survey of children taking part in Young Marketeers, 80% said the programme taught them a new gardening skill, while three-quarters (74%) said they learned something new about where food comes from. Also, 74% of children said they want to continue gardening in the future.
School Food Matters chose The Beacon Primary School, taking part in this year’s programme, as one of two schools to receive the beautiful award-winning garden it recently showcased at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The schools taking part include St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School, Whitefield Primary School, Windsor Primary School, Lipa Primary School, Smithdown Primary School, St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School, The Beacon C of E Primary School.
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