Harvest. The time of year whereby you reap what you sow. The crops are ripe and ready to be harvested; autumnal leaves fall from trees. Meanwhile, it is also a time when we need to support our local community and assist those who are in desperate need. How do we do this?
Dartford Grammar School for Girls (DGGS) annually assists those in need by making decorative harvest boxes to put a smile on at least one person’s face and by donating non-perishable foods to food banks to aid those who have an insufficient amount of food and are currently not in the best situation.
This year half of our harvest boxes, along with the food, were donated to the Dartford food bank while the other half were donated to Age UK. The harvest boxes had a range of different themes including scarecrows, pumpkins and many more. There was a stunning array of harvest boxes, all created by the students at DGGS.
According to www.theguardian.com: “Up to two-fifths of fruit and veg crop in the UK is wasted because it is ‘ugly’ “. It should go without saying that this is an inconsiderate waste of precious crops that could be given to those who may not have enough food to survive this winter.
As shown, in the picture, 795 million people don’t have enough food to lead a healthy life and women and girls make up 60% of the world’s hungry. These are figures that NEED to decrease. Nevertheless, donations to food banks are helping many -across the UK- to get food to help them survive during difficult times.
When asked what harvest meant to her, Naomi Odusina in Year 10 said that “To me, harvest is a time to help others and bring people together. It is an act of kindness which can be quite rare from humanity”. Without a doubt sometimes, as humans, we forget to think about others and only think about ourselves.
So, the next time you raid your kitchen cupboard and discover any food that you, for example, don’t really eat; instead of throwing it away, donate it to your local food bank and feel good knowing that you’ve helped someone in need.
By Eve Okubadejo
