Kirrie pupils follow food's progress from 'field to fork'

Emma Coventry, from Northmuir Primary, enjoys chips made from the school’s own crop of home-grown potatoes.

School pupils in Kirriemuir have been discovering the joys of raising their own produce as well as finding out about where their food comes from as part of a project with Sustainable Kirriemuir.

And they also had the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labours recently with a special in-school treat.

Sustainable Kirrie’s organic grower, Emily Hutchison, has been working with all three primary schools over the last year to help them to develop their own fruit and vegetable gardens within the school grounds.

The ‘Big Kirrie Chip’ scheme is part of the Nourish Kirriemuir Project, funded by the Climate Challenge Fund, which aims to grow two tonnes of local food for local people.

After months of patient care and attention, the keen young school growers are beginning to see the results of their efforts.

Northmuir Primary pupils enjoyed seeing their crop go from farm to fork; helping to harvest, peel and chop their crop of potatoes, which were then delivered to the local chip shop, Thrums Takeaway, just yards from the school’s front door.

The incredible 40kg haul of tatties was cooked at the chip shop and returned to the school just in time for the pupils to enjoy sampling their own produce before heading home for the day.

The 280 bags of local, seasonal chips were a welcome Monday afternoon treat for the pupils, who have embraced the opportunity to learn more about growing their own food, which links in with the school’s Learning for Sustainability curriculum.

Southmuir Primary School is also in the process of harvesting tatties from its market garden and will also be lucky enough to get a taste of ‘The Big Kirrie Chip’ in the coming weeks.

In addition, Sustainable Kirriemuir is working hard to increase the availability of locally-grown food in Kirriemuir and is already looking forward to its next event, and is appealing to the public for support in its preparation.

A group spokesperson said: “If you have a surplus of home-grown apples and are based in Kirrie, we would love to be able to convert them into yummy food as part of our Kirriemuir Apple Extravaganza on October 23.

“Contact our growing leader Emily at [email protected], to arrange collection.”