A nationwide competition to encourage primary school children to grow, harvest and menu plan with carrots has been launched.
Working with seed company Elsoms Seeds, the British Carrot Growers’ Association said it wanted to increase youngsters’ knowledge of food from seed to plate and encourage healthy eating and creative cooking.
BCGA chairman Rodger Hobson (pictured above) said the idea for a schools’ carrot growing competition arose following the success of the association’s first ever British Carrot Day, which now takes place annually on 3 October.
“We want to offer children a fun way to get curious about carrots – how to grow them and the many creative ways to eat and cook with them – be it sweet, savoury or simply to snack on,” said Mr Hobson.
The BCGA and Elsoms Seeds will jointly promote the competition to primary schools, providing resources on carrot growing and care – including recipes for after harvest, tips and tricks, and what they need to do to win the challenge.
Martin Strickson, of Elsoms Seeds, said: “The objective is to increase national awareness of carrots as a British crop, increase their understanding of where their food comes from and get creative at mealtimes.”