"I think it's fantastic how young people are being introduced to the subjects of farming and foodstuffs in this project", said Minister Vogelsänger. A lot of children and young people today know little about natural foodstuffs or the chain of processes from planting to eating them. This is the starting point for the innovative education project GemüseAckerdemie run by the Ackerdemie Foundation: At six schools in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Berlin-Brandenburg area, school children are learning the value of foodstuffs through growing vegetables and performing practical experiments.
"The children in GemüseAckerdemie learn about food production in a practical and fun way," explained agricultural economist Schmitz, who himself grew up on a farm. "The aim is to get them to be more aware about food, to throw less away and to eat more healthily." From March to October, more than 150 school children aged 8 to 14 grow around 30 different sorts of vegetables under professional guidance. Through selling the vegetables afterwards, they get an early insight into economic processes and thus learn about the whole chain of production for vegetable farming. In the winter and on rainy days, theoretical modules are taught to complete the concept.
Additional information on the GemüseAckerdemie: www.ackerdemia.de
Weblink to the award "Deutschland – Land der Ideen": https://www.land-der-ideen.de/presse/meldungen/r-ckblick-1310-bis-1910
