Nov
23
Eco Nursery
Filed Under News
TINIES GO GREEN THANKS TO SUPERCHEF JEAN
A former school cook at Kirkham Grammar is helping young “eco-tots” eat healthily at Blackpool’s newest “supernursery”.
Farmers daughter Jean Rhodes, has been appointed head chef at the Safehands Greenstart childrens nursery, based at Blackpool Football Club and she is already encouraging the little ones and their parents to promote healthy eating, improve their lifestyle, reduce litter and waste and save energy where possible.
Nothing is frozen and everything is prepared from fresh ingredients at the eco- nursery - the first of its kind in the region catering for up to 136 youngsters. The children even have their own outdoor garden… just yards from the soccer pitch corner flag at Bloomfield Road where they grow their own fruit and vegetables including apples, carrots beans potatoes and herbs all to be served up for lunch or dinner by chef Jean from Kirkham.
“Its as green as you can get”, said Jean who is a firm believer in good old fashioned tasty and wholesome food. ”We even encourage the children to save food waste which we collect every day and which they then put on the compost heap for spreading on the garden.”
Meals, cooked fresh every day for over 90 toddlers and up to 12 Safehands staff, include beef casserole, home made soups and stews, tuna pasta bake, fish cakes,cheese and tomato wraps and salad sticks and fruit served four times a day with water and sugar free juice.
But hot traditional puddings, with custard are still a favourite and babies, from as young as four months old, are given the same tasty food pureed.
“I know youngsters are supposed to hate vegetables but they love them here” ,said Jean. ”It’s different somehow when they have grown it themselves”.
A keen fan of Jamie Oliver and his healthy eating campaign Jean says the nursery aims to keep the children well nourished and happy so they can feel even more safe and secure whilst at the same time learning about conservation, and other environmental issues in a fun way.
The pioneering nursery, which has also introduced a webcam facility for parents to keep an eye on their children up to half an hour each day, is the latest venture from Safehands, the UK’s leading quality childcare provide set up ten years ago by Fylde couple Gary and Stephanie Farrer.
“We have adopted a green approach because we believe it’s vital we engage children in such matters from a very early age”, said Stephanie. “These are the adults of tomorrow and learning to care for the planet and Mother Earth is something we want to encourage with children and their parents and make it a very real and meaningful part of the life and ethos of the nursery.”
Safehands Greenstart, which also has a holiday club and crèche facilities, is also planning a special “drop and shop” scheme to allow parents to go late night shopping in the run up to Christmas and is shortly aiming to introduce two mini buses as part of a pick up and drop off service for parents as far away as Preston ,Fleetwood , and across the Wyre and the Fylde region.
