We were privileged to be a part of this summer’s Mitcham Shine Week, coordinated by Kristina Burton (Mitcham Town Community Trust).
The project, based at Bond Primary School, offers local children the chance to take part in a whole range of activities, from gardening to a dance masterclass! Nine members of our team, led by Michelle, worked with 50 local primary school children to teach them about diet, healthy foods, food preparation, gardening and bio-diversity.
“The aim of the week’s cooking session was to look at current sugar consumption and ways to reduce it. We spent time getting to know new fruit and vegetables, one of the favourites being pomegranate! Trying to crack a fresh coconut proved to be a challenge many participants refused to be beaten by, finding ingenious ways to try and separate the flesh from the husk. Children sampled a variety of other seeds – including pumpkin, sunflower, pine nuts and poppy. These were added to smoothies, along with a healthy serving of vegetables. We also made salsa, guacamole and hummus as dips to accompany both tortilla chips and vegetable batons. We finished the week looking at portion sizes and how much fruit and veg should ideally make up our dinner plate”. Michelle – Healthy Communities Project Coordinator, Sustainable Merton
Our thanks to Kristina and all her team for having us along as part of such a great project.