Sodexo, a leading provider of onsite service solutions, has teamed up with Rocket Gardens to provide schools across the country with grow-your-own kitchen gardens.
As part of Rocket Gardens’ ‘Dig for the Future’ project, which encourages schools to get children growing organic vegetables and learning about the food they eat, Sodexo is providing schools in communities where it operates with seasonal fruit, vegetable and salad gardens.
The Sodexo Foundation, the company’s registered charity, is sponsoring the company’s partnership with Rocket Gardens as part of its STOP Hunger campaign which aims to tackle hunger, support good nutrition and promote life skills in local communities.
Each partner school will receive a year’s supply of school gardens which includes a fruit garden, a spring/summer garden and an autumn/winter garden. The baby plants will arrive at the schools ready to be planted and grown.
Prestige London, Sodexo’s fine dining, catering and hospitality provider in London, is the first Sodexo division to take part in the project and has invited its clients to nominate a local school of their choice to receive a Rocket Garden.
Sodexo Defence will also deliver Rocket Gardens to local schools as part of its ‘Sow It, Grow It, Cook It, Eat It’ campaign by its employees who give hands-on support to schools in their area to teach the children about food and where it comes from. Other Sodexo divisions, including Sodexo Education, will also participate in the project.
In addition, Sodexo employees will be able to win Rocket Gardens for their local schools and benefit from a discount on their own Rocket Garden.
Mike Kitchen, Rocket Gardens founder, said: “We provide a unique and achievable way for any school to create a fully functioning kitchen garden. Teaming up with Sodexo to help deliver this project is very exciting as potentially hundreds of thousands of school children will have a chance to enjoy the delights of growing, picking and eating their own delicious food.”
James Greetham, Prestige London managing director, added: “Our partnership with Rocket Gardens provides the perfect opportunity for Sodexo teams to help children engage with food. Not only does this help us promote a healthy eating message but it will also help support the local communities where we operate. This partnership has so much potential, and we are very excited to be working with Rocket Gardens.”