Businesses in Clare are being encouragedto sign up to the GIY and Cully & Sully ‘al desko’ growing food at work initiative.
The food-growing challenge, dubbed “Give Peas a Chance’ enables businesses to not only grow food at work in teams but it allows them to enter a competition to win vouchers to visit Ballymaloe House & Cookery School worth €1,500, and best of all they get to donate a community garden worth €3,000 to a local cause of their choice.
Through growing their own food the initiative aims to help people understand where their food comes from and helps to green Ireland’s workplaces. Registered teams will receive a free Grow pack of sowing pots, seeds and soil plus expert growing tips and training advice from GIY.
Participants are asked to log their growing adventures on a dedicated online ‘growing wall’ and share their exploits on social media. The most engaged and green-fingered team will win the top prizes.
Last year’s challenge was won by Optimal Chiropractic in Cork who donated their community garden to the Cork Association for Autism in Mogeely. A spring gathering earlier this year saw the garden installed and built and it is now of huge therapeutic benefit to the service users. Ben Martin, a chiropractor at Optimal Chiropractors in Cork, was a member of last year’s winning team. He was attracted to the competition for several reasons. “We often talk to our patients about the need for a healthy lifestyle and the idea of growing your own food ties in with that,” he says. “We had the plants growing on our desks in the office and patients would ask about them. It was a great way of starting a conversation” Ben said.
Founder of GIY Michael Kelly says, “Along with Cully & Sully, we are big believers in the power of small food growing experiences to transform people’s attitude to food and health and we’re delighted give people that opportunity through the Give Peas A Chance challenge.”
To register for the desktop growing challenge, log onto www.cullyandsully.com/ourgarden and Give Peas A Chance. The winning team will be announced in September.