KPMG's green growers blossom in Kilbehenny NS
Since the start of this year, twenty KPMG volunteers have been working with students from Kilbehenny NS to help them to develop their own school garden in an effort to encourage primary school students to embrace sustainable development.
As part of the KPMG project 'Green Growers', they provided the school with a polytunnel and for the past four months, the students have been watching their little seeds grow into tasty fruits and vegetables. Not only did the project show them how much food can be produced locally, but with help from KPMG, they also understood how they could use the garden to fund itself, as they held a mini farmers' market on Friday last.
The idea was the brainchild of Eoin O'Regan, Brid Verling, Mike O'Brien and Elaine Murphy from KPMG and on Friday, they ran competitions for the best scarecrow, best food advertisement and best group food production poster.
KPMG volunteer Brian O’Leary, said it was an amazing experience and he that hopes the students will become the future young food producers in Kilbehenny.
The students were given the responsibility for sowing and maintaining their own fruit and vegetables under the watchful eyes of the teachers and KPMG volunteers who regularly visited the school. The KPMG volunteers also taught them about the commercial aspects of operating a business in the food or agricultural sector.
Principal Mary Verling explained that the project helped the children to learn how food gets from the seed to their plate.
"Not many pupils in Ireland can boast of a polytunnel. It's a fabulous resource to have and it really is a living classroom, where children can learn to grow their own organic food in a sustainable way," she said.
To learn about how they could use their tasty produce, the students also recently went on a trip to Ballymaloe Cookery School, where they presented Darina Allen with an array of their home grown produce and they also turned to their grandparents to make up a cookery book of old recipes, which was also launched and sold on the day of the market.
The project has been immensely successful due to the combined efforts of the school, the students, parents and KPMG staff. In appreciation to KPMG for their kind sponsorship of Project Green Growers 2013, principal Mary Verling unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion and acknowledge KPMG’s valuable contribution.
Published:
Friday 21st June 10:57am
