Students from a Hackney school will take their learning beyond the classroom this summer as they sell fresh, school-grown fruit and vegetables to the public.
The Know Your Onions Hackney Market Day will take place on Thursday 9 July from 12-2pm at Ridley Road Market.
Young people from City of London Academy Shoreditch Park have spent the past few months growing fruit and vegetables from seed as part of Know Your Onions, a food education programme run by charity School Food Matters.
Alongside learning how to grow food, students aged 11-16 also take part in cooking masterclasses and visit a market garden to learn more about food production and sustainable farming.
Now, they’ll bring their produce to market, putting their gardening, teamwork and enterprise skills into practice while connecting with their local community.
Visitors to Ridley Road Market can expect to find students selling a colourful range of seasonal produce, such as beetroot, carrots, chives, mixed salad, nasturtiums, parsley, peas, potatoes, radishes and spring onions, alongside chilli, cucumber and tomato plants.
Money raised from sales on the day will be reinvested into further food education projects at participating schools.
Know Your Onions is a fully funded programme that helps young people develop practical gardening, cooking and enterprise skills while encouraging a positive relationship with food. Providing access to food education equips children with the knowledge, confidence and appreciation of nutritious, sustainable food needed to make healthy, informed choices throughout their lives.
Dela Foster, Head of Food Education at School Food Matters, said:
“Food education shouldn’t stop at primary school. Know Your Onions gives young people the chance to build practical life skills, from growing and cooking food to understanding where it comes from and how it connects to health and the environment. Market Day is always a fantastic opportunity for students to share what they’ve learned and feel proud of what they’ve achieved.”
