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Teaching children about rural life in Jersey

Chris Craddock
BBC Jersey communities reporter
BBC Darcy, Ailee and Hannah are standing side by side in a well-lit room with shelves filled with various items in the background. Darcy is on the left and has curly hair and is wearing a black blazer over a red top. Ailee is in the middle and has long straight hair and is wearing a black blazer over a light-colored top. Hannah is on the right and has blonde hair tied back and is wearing a white cardigan over a light-colored topBBC
Darcy (left), Ailee (centre), and Hannah are students who have started a new programme learning about rural life in Jersey

A campaign group is teaching Jersey teenagers about what rural life is like in the island to encourage more young people to consider careers in the sector.

Cultivate Jersey works with Jersey College for Girls (JCG) to take students to farms and producers to see how food is grown in the island.

Jess McGovern, who started Cultivate Jersey, has been nominated for a BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Award for her work.

Ms McGovern wants to expand the project to more schools across the island.

Jess stands in front of shelves filled with various jars and packages in a store. Shel is wearing a light denim jacket over a turtleneck sweater. The shelves behind them contain glass jars labeled with different types of tea and other items, as well as some packaged goods. The background shows more shelving units and the interior of the store.
Jess McGovern started Cultivate Jersey in 2019 and has expanded its work

Ms McGovern said "the programme is about seven to eight weeks long" and the children "are very passionate about this".

She added: "It can make a huge difference because I was a teacher, a local girl, and a daughter of a farmer and I didn't know this kind of stuff until someone told me and that's my motivation for this".

She has also taken students to the Sustainable Cooperative (SCOOP) to show students how the food is then sold in a sustainable way.

The students are standing in front of a shelf filled with various items in a store. The shelves contain products such as boxes, jars, and containers. There is a basket on the counter below the shelves containing more items. The background shows additional shelves stocked with various goods.
Students looked around SCOOP to find out more about the produce sold there

Darcy, Ailee, and Hannah, all 17, were some of the students who visited SCOOP as part of the course.

Darcy said "it's been amazing" and "I think it's important to learn how the environment changes because of locally sourced products".

Ailee said "it's been really cool to see the different steps behind getting our food ready" and "it inspires people to be more creative about where we get our food".

Hannah said "seeing this shows how much our land can produce for us".

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