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SCHOOL SETS STORE BY GROWING ORGANIC

By County Press Reporter - Monday, September 27, 2004
SCHOOL SETS STORE BY GROWING ORGANIC
First customer Mandy Airey, left, being served by Ruth Ilman of Godshill Organics at Northwood Primary School. Picture by PETER BOAM.
By Jon Moreno
YOUNGSTERS at Northwood Primary School and the Northwood community are benefiting from the introduction of an organic vegetable mini-market.
The move is helping divert pupils away from eating fattening snacks and helping to compensate villagers for the loss of the village's recently-closed greengrocery store.
Northwood Primary School decided to invite Godshill Organics to sell its wares for an hour each Wednesday morning as part of a commitment to encourage healthy eating and to help provide a replacement grocery service to Northwood following the recent closure of the Vectaveg store.
Last week's first market proved an instant success.
Quicker than you can say aubergine, all the naturally grown vegetables on offer were snapped up with queues stretching around the school block.
Headteacher Vicki Johnson said: "I approached several independent greengrocers to ask them if they would be prepared to run a weekly market stall in the school grounds as a means of encouraging local families to eat healthily and as a service to those of us who run out of fresh food too early following the weekly shop.
"The service has also helped us to get to know our community even better.
"We hope that by bringing an old-fashioned market stall back into the community, parents, staff and children will be able to shop for better-quality products, mostly Island grown, without the hassle of having to drive."
Meanwhile, the pupils have been growing their own vegetables on an allotment in the school grounds, sponsored by the Ward Trust and Northwood Community Forum and set up by Northwood Primary School parent Julia Neill as a means of getting youngsters to think more about healthy eating.
Lee Illman, who has run Godshill Organics with his wife, Ruth, for almost ten years, said: "We wanted to give the kids a healthier option and plant the seed to make them aware of the importance of organic farming, which fits in nicely with the local education authority's attitude of wanting to get rid of the in-school snack machines."
The Illmans intend to collaborate with the school to either give talks on organic farming or allow parties of pupils to make visits to Godshill Organics to watch and learn how to grow organic vegetables.