Chew Stoke pupils' passion for reducing food waste

Children from Chew Stoke Church School have returned from a visiting us a few weeks ago with a passion for reducing food waste.
The 24 nine and ten-year-olds enjoyed a four-day visit to the award-winning centre in Bruton, Somerset.
Their teacher Angela Hurford said: “Our pupils were already very environmentally aware but quickly rose to the challenge of limiting food waste, which is high on Mill on the Brue’s eco-agenda.
“All week they carefully watched everyone who swept unwanted food into the container and anxiously awaited the posting of each day’s waste. They were extremely proud of Wednesday’s result – 600g in total.”
As well as learning about the environment, the children enjoyed lots of challenging activities including a zip wire and assault course.
Mill on the Brue is a family-run, not-for-profit centre that attracts children from across the UK, many from the Bath and North East Somerset and Bristol areas. It recently picked up a gold award for Sustainable Tourism in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards.
Director Tricia Rawlingson Plant said: “Last year we celebrated our 30th anniversary, and from the very start caring for the environment has been a fundamental part of what we do. It’s something that every child who comes here learns about and appreciates.
“We enjoyed having the children from Chew Stoke with us, they were a credit to their school. I was particularly impressed with how quickly they picked up on food waste, even pointing out when members of staff were wasting food! I’m sure that they will have benefited from their visit and will take what they have learned back with them to use in their everyday lives.”
Everything at Mill on the Brue, including the land, the food and the buildings, is built around strong environmental principles. Sheep “cut” the lawns. Pigs are deployed to dig over fresh land – so successfully that the kitchen-garden supplies almost all vegetable requirements organically. Children who think that eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables come pre-packaged from a supermarket leave with new found enthusiasm for eco-living.