Welcome

Welcome to issue 24 of Green Kids magazine, this issue is all about local food. Did you know that our food is travelling further than ever before, often thousands of miles from where it was made? This means that more fuel is used and therefore more pollution from the trucks, lorries and planes used to carry our food from one place to another. We can choose to eat as much local food as possible, which reduces the impact on the environment. Find out how.

What ar efood mi les? Food mile s are a m easure of how far ou r food has to travel from the place it wa s grown to our plate. The furthe r it has to come, the more en ergy it tak esto transpo rt it.

fact Ev entho ugh th e UK is abl e to gr ow lettuces th rou gho ut t he year, we impo rt n ear ly half our lettu ces fr om other coun tri es,like Spai n.

Contents:

3 All about food miles 4 The local food game 6 Green Kids pinboard 7 In the kitchen 8 Earth Friendly Kids

WIN a solar helicopter Send us your drawings and poems and you could win one of these fantastic solar powered helicopters. We have three, worth £18.50 to give away kindly donated by Holz Toys (www.holz-toys.co.uk). Please send entries to the address below.

Editor Melissa Corkhill Design Jez Harris. Green Kids is printed on recycled paper using vegetable based inks. To write to us: Green Kids, PO Box 104, Lewes, BN7 9AX Tel: 01825 872858 Website: www.thegreenparent.co.uk • With thanks to Fi Bird for the recipes. A market for

farmers

Most towns hold a monthly, or if you are lucky, weekly, farmer’s market where farmers from the local area bring their produce to sell. You can buy fabulous local food from freshly pressed juices to organically grown vegetables. You can look on their website to find out if there is one in your area. www.farmersmarkets.net

one thing

Ask your pa rents if

you can try an organic

box. This cu ts down on

the pesticid es used to

grow regula r crops and

the petrol u sed in

transport.

What is a PYO? A pick your own farm (PYO) is a place that you can go to pick lots of delicious fresh fruit and vegetables. Depending on where it is and what time of year you go you could find berries, peas, beans or apples. Remember to wear old clothes and shoes when you go picking as juice from fruit and vegetables will stain.

Local food If we choose to bu y our food from local sh ops and farms, we can avoid pollution-causing f ood miles and give our money to local businesses too. Buying from local people means that our mo ney stays in the comm unity where we live and can be used to improve thi ngs in our area.

Congratulations to the winners of our Penguin Torch competition Arnold Armstrong-Sobolewski, 5; Maia Fuller, 3; Naomi Krikman, 11; Amber Rigden, 8; Tobias Smitherman-Cairns, 9

3