Salad Days for Gosberton Pupils at Fun Club Competition
Primary school children in Gosberton near Spalding tried their hand at creating fresh salad recipes in a Dragon’s Den-style challenge set by leading food-to-go and fresh produce business Freshtime.
As part of the Freshtime Fun Club, a schools engagement programme run by the Boston-based chilled fresh food producer, around 50 Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils at Gosberton Academy were asked to create their own salad with an accompanying marketing campaign and packaging options.
They were given a month to work on their ideas in groups of five or six, and yesterday (Monday) they presented their ideas to a Dragons’ Den style panel of judges led by Freshtime Managing Director Steve Evans.
The event marked the end of this year’s Freshtime Fun Club, which works with children in south Lincolnshire schools to raise awareness of healthy eating and where food comes from.
The pupils came up with a wide range of salads, including Chicken Deluxe, a colourful Traffic Lights Salad and even a Chocolate Deluxe salad for people who don’t like vegetables!
In the final reckoning a four-strong team of Year 5 pupils – Pippa Masters, Lilly-Mae McIntyre, Gracie Cowling and Amie Clarke – won first prize with their Party Salad. They each received a children’s cookery book and the school is to be given a further set of cook books by Freshtime to keep in the library.
On the judging panel were Freshtime MD Steve Evans, Mel Miles, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Agronomy at Freshtime, and Gosberton Academy teaching assistant Lois Stanley.
“It’s been great to see such a diverse range of creative ideas from the children, who seem to have really enjoyed the challenge we set them,” said Steve Evans.
“Their knowledge of fruits and vegetables was great to see – one salad even contained pomegranate seeds which I don’t think I’d even heard of when I was at school!
“There was also a really strong awareness of topics like food safety, the effect of packaging on the environment and healthy eating, all of which are major issues for the food sector.
“Congratulations to everyone who took part, especially the winners!”
Throughout the summer term pupils at Gosberton Academy have been taking part in a range of Freshtime Fun Club activities, including interactive sessions which tested their knowledge of fresh produce and a fresh salad tasting session.
They also watched a video by world-ranked Lincolnshire paracyclist Liz McTernan who told the children about her lifestyle and the importance of eating well to remain at the top of her game.
The Freshtime Fun Club is now in its fifth year and has previously been run at Boston West Academy (2014), St Thomas’ CE Primary School (2015), Staniland Academy (2016) and Carlton Road Academy (2017).
For more information about Freshtime visit www.freshtime.co.uk
Notes for editors:
About Freshtime
- Freshtime, based in Boston, Lincolnshire was created in 1993 by farmer co-operative ELGRO (East Lincolnshire Growers). In 2000 there was a management-led buy-out.
- In recent years more than £14 million has been invested in Freshtime’s purpose-built 82,500 square feet site in Boston to develop the company’s production capabilities.
- Freshtime produces over 170 different product lines, from stir fry and vegetables to couscous and pasta salads, deli fillers, soups and dips.
- Freshtime was included in The Grocer’s Fast 50 list of growing food businesses in November 2012 and 2013.
- For more information visit www.freshtime.co.uk
About the Freshtime Fun Club
- The Freshtime Fun Club provides new learning opportunities for school pupils in the Boston area and teaches them about food production, vegetables and salads.
- Freshtime’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Agronomy Mel Miles, who is Boston born and bred and passionate about promoting his home town and county, helps to design and deliver fun club sessions.
- The scheme was launched in 2014 and has previously partnered with Boston West Academy (2014), St Thomas’ CE Primary School (2015), Staniland Academy (2016) and Carlton Road Academy (2017).
- For more information about the fun club, visit freshtime.co.uk/fun-club
