A number of primary schools in Ceredigion are now serving Welsh grown, organic vegetables to the children as part of their school lunches as part of the Welsh Veg in Schools project.

Welsh Veg in Schools is a pilot project co-ordinated by Food Sense Wales that aims to get more organically produced Welsh veg into primary school meals across Wales.

It’s currently operating across six local authority areas with Ceredigion becoming the seventh to take part. Welsh Veg in Schools is a partnership that includes Castell Howell, Farming Connect Horticulture as well as a host of enthusiastic growers, including Patrick Holden at Bwlchwernen Fawr Farm near Lampeter.

One of the schools that will be receiving the veg is Ysgol y Dderi in Llangybi – a neighbouring school of Patrick and the family at Bwlchwernen.

Children from years 3 and 4 visited the farm back in September and during their visit, they learnt about the Welsh Veg in Schools project and how carrots from the farm were being supplied to schools across south and west Wales.

At the time, Ceredigion wasn’t a part of the scheme so the children at Ysgol y Dderi took it upon themselves to canvass for Bwlchwernen carrots to be included in their school lunches.

What followed was a live school project aimed at getting local veg into the kitchen at Ysgol y Dderi.

The children invited Gill Jones, Head of Catering at Ceredigion County Council to talk to them about the school meals service. They welcomed Dafydd Walters from Castell Howell to talk to them about supply chains and they wrote to their local politicians, Ben Lake MP and Elin Jones MS, as well as members of the council, to see if they could help influence and change the way vegetables are sourced for school meals.