New educational hub equips families at home to Grow, Cook and Learn about the Great British Pea!
The Yes Peas! campaign, run by the British Growers Association and funded by growers, freezers and machinery companies from the pea vining sector, has launched a fun educational hub for children – The Ha-pea Zone.
Supporting the national effort of families learning together at home, the new online platform provides a range of resources dedicated to all aspects of the Great British pea, including information about the pea industry, the journey of the pea from field to plate, how to grow and harvest peas as well as advice and inspiration for cooking. There will also be free downloadable resources, from fact sheets and checklists to games and quizzes.
Children will be able to lead a ‘grow your own’ project and apply for their own seeds to plant at home, following downloadable step-by-step guides and watching top-tips videos from British pea growers on the farm, to help them along the way.
The Ha-pea Zone will feature cooking ideas using store cupboard essentials, as well as recipes created by kids, for kids. The ‘Pea Hall of Fame’ section of the hub enables children to share their work and upload their own recipe creations.
Coral Russell, Crop Associations Manager at the British Growers Association, which runs the Yes Peas! campaign, says: “We wanted to provide a platform which features detailed resources to support parents with new ideas for home schooling, as well as fun educational activities for kids to enjoy. We want to build knowledge and encourage everyone to get involved in practical activities which is why we are encouraging children to get creative in the kitchen and cook with their family, and also take learning out into the garden by following a ‘grow your own’ project.
“The UK is the largest producer and consumer of frozen peas in Europe, with Brits eating an average 9,000 peas per person every year, so we hope The Ha-pea Zone sparks a real passion for peas within Britain’s households, and who knows, this could be the inspiration for the next generation of pea growers!”
There has never been more of a relevant time to learn about the pea industry as the annual UK pea drilling process has just begun and in three months’ time, around 35,000 hectares – equivalent to about 70,000 football pitches – of pea crops will produce 2 billion portions of peas to feed the nation.
To access the Yes Peas! Ha-pea Zone, please visit peas.org/ha-pea-zone/ and for more information on the Yes Peas campaign, please visit www.peas.org.
Families can share how they have been learning about peas at home! Whether it’s a pea-inspired recipe creation or a request for seeds to do the ‘grow your own’ project, please email YesPeas@hatchpr.co.uk.
