The Green Dreams Project
Nutrition Projects
In 2018 the ‘Fresh Food Initiative’ and ‘Grown in the Community,’ were set up to improve nutrition and health literacy in children and adults. The programs continue to this day.
The Fresh Food Initiative
The ‘Fresh Food Initiative’ is a collaboration between the Green Dreams Project and Pennine Community Farms, two organisations that have worked together for years to contribute to nutrition and education. The aims are:
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To create a network of growers across Burnley and Pendle, and optimise space for food production.
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To supplement food banks with fresh fruit and vegetables that have been grown locally by organic methods.
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To enable people, particularly children, to grow their own food through education and practical support.
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To empower people to improve their diet through demonstration of cooking with fresh produce in ‘chop cook and eat’ sessions. Also collating easy to follow recipes throughout the seasons, culminating in a cook book that can accompany the fresh produce.
Key achievements to date;
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3 tonnes of food produced and distributed in 2022 and 62k produced so far 2024.
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Worked with 16 other organisations
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Supplied 5 food banks
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Supported 10 education providers (from Nursery to University level) with food growing initiatives, including practical assistance to upgrade their growing spaces, running regular growing sessions, upskilling staff and providing work experience placements at our growing sites.
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Have 45 volunteers actively involved in our food growing team.
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We held 44 chop cook and eat sessions to demonstrate how to use produce and follow easy to replicate, tasty recipes.
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Our produce has been used in our new Cooking With Kindness project – a monthly event where groups collaborate to provide a free 3 course meal for up to 50 beneficiaries.
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We now host work placements for UCLAN medical students all year round and Occupational Therapy students for role emerging placements once a year.
HEALTH CREATION FOR CHILDREN ‘Grown in the Community’
In 2018 the Green Dreams Project contracted ‘Edible Explorers’ and ‘Pennine Lancashire Community Farm’ to help set up a nutrition project in Primary Schools.
Each school was provided with raised beds to grow food, and a tutor to show them how to prepare the soil, how to plant, how to grow and how to harvest.
Edible Explorers taught the children how to prepare food and follow nutritious, healthy recipes, so that this food could be taken home and cooked. Raised beds were also installed in a local day care centre to allow the service users to share their knowledge with the children.
As part of the same project, the Green Dreams Project contracted Burnley Youth Theatre to work with the children at each school, to use theatre and drama to learn about food. This was intricately linked with confidence and aspiration. A film was made to document their learning.
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Shortly before the pandemic, children from year 6 at Padiham Green School were taken to the Food Conference at the Royal College of Medicine in London to present their work to a packed lecture theatre.
Grown in the Community (Primary Schools & Nurseries)
Sessions focus on the following themes;
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Food growing - planning crops, growing, harvesting and seed saving for future
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Construction - helping the schools to improve their infrastructure, for example building raised beds and compost bays. This has helped the children to gain practical skills such as woodwork.
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Connection to food production - e.g, using the apple press to make apple juice
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Learning about garden wildlife that they encounter - recent examples include frogs and newts.
