Child's play

Kayleigh Jenkins - 01 November 2011

Being an adult isn’t always fun. Yes we’re old enough to drink, old enough to drive (of course never at the same time!) and don’t get told what time to go to bed, but there are also bills to pay and jobs to do. Yet, at Primary school I loved any chance to act like a grown up. This is why, although my primary school days are long gone, I could identify with the excitement of the children at Poplar Primary school when they got to plan, set up and work at their own school farmers’ market.

The market was a result of the Soil Association led Farm Academy programme. This is an exciting 2-year project involving 10 London schools. The programme aims to teach children about food and farming and where what they eat comes from. An important task when too many young people think food just magically appears in Supermarkets.

This particular market followed a three-day summer visit to Commonwork Organic Farm in Kent. The visit was the first time at a farm for many of these young city dwellers. During their stay they discovered what farming and food production entailed through helping on the farm, making pizza from scratch and looking after animals (the chickens being a main conversation point). The kids seemed to gain an understanding of what organic food was about as well as the importance of locally sourced produce. When one pupil, a nine-year old girl was asked what she’s learnt about organic farming she talked about using “vegetables from ‘Eng-er-land’ and not from other countries” on her homemade pizza.

After the fun on the farm and the summer holidays the children returned to school to get to work organising their own farmers’ market. Their After School Club saw them making their own jams and chutneys as well as decorations too brighten up their school hall.

On the day of the market there was much excitement when setting up. The room was bustling with noise as children carried, wheeled and dragged bags, boxes and baskets full of produce through the room. The girls took charge of the decorative side, strategically placing table clothes, arranging displays to within a millimetre of symmetry and placing, replacing and placing again, their homemade signs until they were in perfect position. While the boys seemed to relish the chance to handle money.

I was particularly impressed, not only at the children’s attitudes in organising the day, but at their unrelenting enthusiasm in wanting to make it a success and their camaraderie was touching. It’s not easy convincing 10 year olds to stay after school after all!

Each stall had its own product and team including bread, honey, jam, and cakes. The cake stall was particularly impressive, with dozens of tempting treats sprawling over multiple tables. The centrepiece being a large sponge cake with ‘School Farmers Market’ emblazoned across it: definitely the most popular item of the day, it took just 20 minutes of the doors opening for the last piece to be sold.

One of the stars of the day came courtesy of The Community Farm, who were running their own stall alongside the children. They had brought along Henrietta, a beautiful black and white hen which became a main attraction. Like a lot of the children at the market I’d never touched a real life chicken before and the idea terrified me, but Henrietta was so cute even I couldn’t resist a quick stroke.

The doors opened to the public at 3.30pm. Parents, grandparents, teachers and community members completely filled the room within minutes, guaranteeing the children a very busy afternoon. I’m sure at this point, myself and many other adults, would have been suffering some form of small nervous breakdown, the kids however seemed totally unfazed by the barrage of people making their way towards them and managed the serving quickly, calmly and with constant smiles on their faces. It was the boys who provided the comedy of the afternoon by unleashing their inner cockney market trader. “Roll up, roll up, come get your chutney” could be heard across the room from one young man who most definitely has a future in sales.

Within an hour the tables had been almost stripped bare making the day a definite success. From my short time with these children, I could tell this programme had really influenced them and their attitude to food. They seemed to understand the importance of what they were doing. I also felt the School Farmers Market had also taught them practical skills in planning, organising and team work which they took on board with the impressive enthusiasm and understanding that only children can. Maybe they could teach us adults a thing or two…

Kayleigh Jenkins, the Soil Association's current press intern, is on a two-month placement part-funded by the University of the West of England.

To see how we are working to ensure good food is available across the community, and find out how you can support our activity please explore the Good Food for All section of our website