Growing Our Future

10 May 2012 – A recent Food for Life Partnership report by Garden Organic and the University of Bath shows the impact of growing food in schools as part of a broader food education programme.

 

The Growing Our Future report presents the findings of an evaluation conducted by the University of Bath’s Centre for Research in Education and the Environment on the impact of growing food in schools as part of a broader food education programme.

A significant part of the Food for Life Partnership’s work has been setting up school gardens and embedding food- growing activities in class to meet curriculum targets. Until now, the positive impact of food growing in learning and participation has only been seen through observation and anecdote. The Growing Our Future report highlights important evidence about the diverse range of benefits that food growing in schools offers, and the worthwhile role growing activities play in a child’s educational experience.

Five key impact areas explain the vital educational, personal and practical benefits that growing offers to pupils, teachers, parents and the wider school community:

• Acquiring skills and knowledge
• Understanding and appreciating the environment
• Improving health and wellbeing
• Encouraging positive values and behaviours
• Increasing participation in school and the wider community

The report concludes with a summary of the evaluation’s best-practice recommendations to schools on how to optimise the impact of growing as part of a food education programme.

Read the full report here.