Harvest Festival

13th October 2019
On Monday, 13th October, we held our school Harvest Festival. I was delighted with the confidence the children displayed in performing, signing and dancing in front of a large crowd. At the end of the celebration, the children set our community 3 challenges, details of which are listed below.
 
Challenge 1:

A balanced diet is important to help us grow and be strong. But did you know that eating more vegetables is also good for the environment? It is even better if you grow your own.

If we replace some of the meat we eat with good portions of vegetables, we can make our carbon footprint smaller, even if we just do it one meal a week.

We challenge all of our community to eat more vegetables! If you are able to, we challenge you to start growing your own vegetables too!

 

Challenge 2:

Plastic never goes away. Today, around 40% of the world’s ocean surface is covered by plastic waste. Every year, thousands of seabirds, sea turtles, seals and other marine animals are killed after swallowing plastic or getting tangled up in it.

We challenge all of our community to cut down on our plastic waste by: using reusable bags when shopping, not buying single use plastic products like water bottles, bags and straws and trying to avoid products made from or packaged in plastic whenever possible.

 

Challenge 3:

Palm Oil is found in around 50% of packaged products in our supermarkets. In some parts of the world, large areas of natural forest are being cleared to make room for growing palm oil. This clearing destroys the habitats of already endangered species like the Orangutan in our poem.

But palm oil can be produced more sustainably and things can change. By only purchasing products that are certified by the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) or are Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), we can ensure that we are only supporting sustainable sources of palm oil and help to make the world a better place.

We challenge all of our community to check before we buy and make sure we only buy products that use RSPO or CSPO guaranteed palm oil.

 

The children have all brought home a leaf, which they need to decorate on one side and then, on the other, indicate what changes they have made in response to our challenges. These need to be returned by Monday 4th November so we can create our Harvest Promise Tree.