The Oaks' Project

 The Oaks identified that they needed to get children to be more open-minded to eating vegetables. Children have a negative view on vegetables and therefore don’t want to try them but if they wanted to make school dinners have more vegetables, then children needed to be willing to try them in different ways. To do this the Oaks rebuilt  their vegetable patches in the field and have all year groups involved in the growing of fruit and vegetables. Their garden now has two new beds and a greenhouse.

They have also  conducted a survey and found that most students were actually interested in trying new vegetables. They planned to further engage interest in trying new vegetables by running small campaigns or activities throughout the year to encourage more vegetable eating across the school along with raising awareness about the project on their website.

The Oaks found this important as they want to help the community be healthier and eat fresher foods as well as encourage alternative uses of vegetables so they aren’t thrown away.

You can hear from the students leading the project themselves:

They used the fruit and vegetables they grew in their garden to cook them in sweet treats to sell at the Summer Fair. Most children said that they loved them and were pleased to know that they were made with vegetables.They said that their opinion on vegetables had changed as a result.

Here you can find one of the eco council talking about their project: