On Tuesday 7 July, Barnsley Market rang with the voices of some very young traders.
Children from eight local primary schools gathered to sell the fruit, vegetables and herbs they had grown during the spring and summer terms as part of Young Marketeers, a food education programme run by the national charity School Food Matters and funded by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.
With support from school staff and School Food Matters' expert gardener, the children grew an impressive range of produce despite the recent heatwaves. Sales of beetroot, broad beans, chard, courgettes, lettuce, radishes, peas, potatoes, herbs and plants raised more than Β£400 for FareShare Yorkshire. The children were proud to present the money to the charity's CEO, Jonathan Williams.
As well as teaching children how to grow produce from seed and encouraging a lifelong positive relationship with food, Young Marketeers helps them develop valuable teamwork, enterprise and marketing skills.
One child said:
I'm usually a shy person, but this has given me confidence. I feel like I'm doing the right thing for me.
The children were also supported by the Mayor of Barnsley, Councillor Liam Hardcastle, who said:
It was fantastic to see the children putting their growing, teamwork and enterprise skills into practice, and a real pleasure to see how proud they were of what they had achieved. A brilliant day all round!
Another child summed up the day perfectly, saying:
This is brilliant. Indescribable! I'm just happy to be here.
