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GYOP Central Region Winner Announced

GYOP Central Region Winner Announced

Launched in 2005, Grow Your Own Potatoes (GYOP) was one of the first primary school based growing projects, and is co-ordinated by the Potato Council, a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). Since then it has become the largest project of its kind, with a million children signed up for 2011, learning where potatoes come from, how they grow and that potatoes are a healthy, nutritious food. The simple hands-on activities make the project perfect for young pupils.

On Friday 14th October Mark Allmond and Sophie Barnard of QV Foods presented the Potato Council’s regional prize of a piece of Marmax eco-friendly outdoor furniture, for the Grow Your Own Project 2011, to the pupils of the Shortstown Lower School, in Bedford.

The school was part of the Central region that grew the Casablanca seed supplied by QV Foods. A total of 3796 schools from the Central region took part in this year’s project and Shortstown Lower School grew 3440g of potatoes from their seed tubers, although this wasn’t quite enough to net the national prize, which went to the Milford Haven Junior School, in South Wales for their 5100g of Rocket.

Both the staff and children were full of enthusiasm and the energy, and the positive attitude that they all showed towards the project was overwhelming! The QV Foods GYOP team will be getting together in the New Year to start the ball rolling for the 2012 project.

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