A charitable group of “Young Marketeers” will be taking over Borough Market again on July 4, ready to sell their best school-grown fruits and vegetables for a worthy cause.
Children from 11 London primary schools will offer up their top-quality items during their Summer Produce Sale at the glass-fronted Market Hall. The event is hosted annually by Borough Market in partnership with charity School Food Matters, whose mission is to ensure that every child enjoys fresh sustainable food at school and understands where it comes from.
Entry to the sale, which opens with the children ringing the Market’s iconic bell at 11 am, runs to 1:30 pm and is free to all visitors. All proceeds from the sale will go to FareShare, which seeks to relieve food poverty by rescuing good food that would otherwise go to waste. Every £1 raised provides four meals for vulnerable families across London.
The annual programme, which began from a single Harvest Sale in 2012, teaches children how to grow produce and also how to run a w“By working with children we want to encourage the next generation to connect with their food, to enjoy growing their own produce, to eat with the seasons and ultimately, to make informed choices when it comes to what they put on their plate,” says Christine Elliott, Chair of Trustees, Borough Market. “The Young Marketeers programme is all about inspiring the producers, shoppers, chefs and market traders of the future.”
This year, 55 children are set to take part in the sale. To date, more than 7,000 children have grown produce in 58 different schools in the programme. Nearly 800 students have sold 45 different varieties of fruit and vegetables at London’s 1,000-year-old market.
Schools set to participate include those from several boroughs: Greenwich: Steiner School, Charlton Manor Primary School; Southwark: Snowsfield Primary School, Peter Hills Primary School, Boutcher Primary School, Phoenix Primary School, Tower Bridge Primary School, John Ruskin Primary School, St. Francis Primary School; Newham: Stamford Hill Primary School; and Lambeth: Reay Primary School.
