The sun shone brightly on Brookburn Primary School's Summer Fete on Saturday 3rd July (2010), children and parents were out on mass to have fun, taste three of the delicious range of organic, local and seasonal soups, and meet the growers who had grown the vegetable ingredients!
Our corner of the field looked by far the best, if we do say so ourselves! We had an eye catching eight foot map of Europe (produced with thanks to Paul Fitzgerald), to show where the dry organic goods would be coming from - with a more detailed map of Greater Manchester and the North West - pin pointing each of our local organic growers and explaining a bit about them and their produce. As well getting to try out some of the soups prepared and served by Manchester Fayre, and the excellent kitchen team at Brookburn, children tested their knowledge with the interactive compost & mini beast displays (thanks to Jenny Hall & Climate Friendly Food), learned 10 super soup facts, and ate locally grown organic crudités with home made hummus.
However, possibly most exciting of all, was that they could then go and meet Sally, one the most local growers who is supplying some of the vegetables and herbs for the super soup pilot which started this year. Sally showed the children photos of Glebelands City Growers market garden just down the road in Sale; chatted to the children about farming life; and got the children (and parents) to try organic produce freshly picked from the site that morning (including edible salad flowers – beautiful enough to entice any one to taste!).
The reaction from parents and children alike was very positive, one mum said:
"Soup is the only way to get my children to eat vegetables, it's a great idea (and then, noticing her son eagerly chomping on organic courgette and home made hummus, added), that's amazing – you don't even like courgettes!"One Dad said that the fact that an organic option would be on the school menu would make them consider moving their child over from packed lunch to school meals, and everyone was very enthusiastic about supporting local organic growers. However the proof is in the pudding (or soup!) and lots of children (many of whom were involved in tasting and selecting the best seasonal soups) said they would choose soup from the menu this year...So watch this space to see how it all works out in practice!
The seasonal soups are made of locally produced organic vegetables, grown at Glebelands Organic Growers (just three miles away); Moss Brook Growers; Dunham Massey Organics and the Rigby's organic farm in Warrington. All the vegetables are grown within thirty miles of Manchester and dry ingredients (pulses, beans and grains) have been sourced as close as possible and within Europe.
Seasonal and organic vegetable soup has been on the menu at Brookburn since September 2010 and we aim for between 50 and 150 portions to be served each day. If the pilot project, and accompanying research being carried out by the Kindling Trust, show that this is a viable option for both Manchester Fayre and the growers, the idea is to gradually roll out the sourcing of locally produced organic veg across Schools in Manchester.
The serving of a seasonal and local soup to Brookburn Primary School is a year-long pilot and is part of Sustainable Fayre: a partnership between Food Futures, Manchester Fayre and the Kindling Trust. Sustainable Fayre is funded by the Carbon Innovation Fund as part of Manchester's Climate Action Plan to reduce the city's CO2 emissions by 41% by 2020.