SAMP 2020 Vision - Ethical and Low Carbon Food Day!
Monkton Prep School put on another SAMP (Sustainability at Monkton Prep) Day at the end of January and another great fun day for the Prep pupils. Our theme for this year is top of the agenda for governments and businesses around the world; How can we reduce our impact on the planet and minimise our carbon footprint?
One of the biggest ways we can reduce our climate impact is by looking at what we eat and making responsible choices that maximise welfare and minimise the damage to the environment. Our assembly focussed on intensive agriculture compared to organic produce and the link between what we eat and where it comes from.
Our fantastic catering team lead by Nick Camidge provided a gorgeous spread of delicious vegetarian options, all sourced locally. It is a fact not often appreciated that our catering team go above and beyond to provide all of us at Monkton with high quality and responsibly sourced food every day.
Here are some facts to chew on:
As a whole Monkton produces about 400,000 meals throughout the year, nearly 10,000 a week!
95% of the meals at Monkton are freshly prepared on site rather than as ready made options
All the dairy produce is locally sourced and organic
All eggs are from free range farms
The meat is from high welfare, local sources
Pupil health, animal welfare, and the environment are the top priorities of our skilled and caring team
In the afternoon, every pupil was given a strawberry seedling provided by one of our local businesses, Prior Park Garden Centre. They planted them out using soil mixed by our grounds team from a special blend of sand and leaf compost from our trees into recycled and compostable pots that can be planted directly into the soil thus eliminating harmful plastic waste. These will provide the pupils with fresh fruit through the summer as well as building their awareness of their links to the living world around them.
There are some big plans on the horizon as well. Thanks to the Woodland Trust, we have been given over 400 saplings of a variety of types that will be planted by each pupil around the school as part of a legacy that will continue to provide a biodiverse environment and carbon offset for the school for hundreds of years.
Thank you to our school leaders for their guidance and support, the catering team for their ongoing and hugely appreciated efforts, our grounds team for mixing the soil and helping plan the tree planting, and of course, our lovely pupils for engaging so well with the day!
