News
TRH join children taking part in a healthy eating scheme in Ayrshire
20th June 2005
The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay joined pupils for lunch when they visited a Scottish school which is pioneering a healthy eating scheme.
Their Royal Highnesses, known as The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, were visiting Hurlford Primary in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, on the first of three days of engagements in Scotland.
The Duke is Patron of the Soil Association which is piloting a Food For Life healthy eating scheme at the school.
As part of the project, pupils are served unprocessed and locally produced food.
Targets for the Food for Life scheme, established by the Soil Association in 2003, specify that at least 30 per cent of food served should be from organic sources, 50 per cent from local sources and 75 per cent from unprocessed ingredients. Hurlford Primary, which joined the project in August 2004, has exceeded all of these targets.
The schoolchildren lined up to meet Their Royal Highnesses in the playground and cheered and waved flags as the couple made their way to the canteen for lunch. About 800 people had also gathered outside the school gates to greet the pair.
When The Duke asked seven-year-old Elliot Spence what he thought of the school's healthy meals, Elliot told him he thought they were “brilliant”.
Catering manager Margaret Paterson said: “The Duke and Duchess were very nice. They wanted to taste some food themselves and said it was good.”
She added: “We are now serving 100 per cent unprocessed food and use as much local produce in our meals as possible.”
The couple were later presented with a basket of fruit and vegetables and a brooch and tablecloth made from locally-made Darvel lace.The headteacher at Hurlford Primary School, Kirsteen McCartney, said: “The visit went very well indeed. It took a lot of preparation but it has all been worthwhile. The children were all very excited and you can tell they enjoyed it.”
Anna Ashmole, Head of the Soil Association Scotland, said: “Hurlford has not only reached the targets we set through Food For Life, but has exceeded them.
“It is fantastic to have our Patron here to see its success. The kids have really enjoyed it.”
Earlier in the day, The Duke visited a farming co-operative in Girvan, Ayrshire.
After greeting people at the station, His Royal Highness continued his journey to Girvan Early Growers where he met farmers involved with the co-operative.
Chairman Drew Young said The Duke, who farms at Highgrove, obviously had a “huge interest” in their industry.
Mr Young said: “He is very knowledgeable about farming and the good and bad things that are affecting it just now.
“And he was interested to find out how we kept the farms involved in the Early Growers motivated in the co-operative.
“He is a very down-to-earth man, very pleasant to talk to and very attentive.”
The Duke joked and chatted with a number of workers in the warehouse, who were busy sorting the first crops of the year.
His Royal Highness sampled a freshly dug and cooked new potato offered to him by staff member Marion MacMorland and was presented with a gift of potatoes and carrots by siblings Iain, Jamie and Louise Kyle, aged eight, 12 and 14 respectively.
His Royal Highness asked the children about their schools and helping out on their home farm nearby.
The Duke also stopped to chat to two brothers, James and David Young, both of Girvan, who told him they were keen to follow in their dad‘s footsteps and get into farming.
James, 18, added: “We didn‘t expect him to stop by us at all, but suddenly he was there.
“He asked us if we were interested in agriculture. He seemed to want younger generations involved and was quite happy we had taken an interest in all this.
“And he was asking us all what we did and about the machinery here. It was pretty easy-going.”