Miss Hamalis, Headmistress of the Junior School, talks about how they are celebrating the Harvest Festival this year.

Yesterday we gathered together to celebrate the Harvest Festival, a special time when we reflect on how fortunate we are to have access to plenty of food while remembering that not everyone is as lucky. I want to express my sincere thanks for your generous donations. Some of them were beautifully displayed during our assembly, and all of them will be given to North London Food Bank Aid with the help of our Year 4 Channing Association reps.

During the assembly, we explored the concept of ‘food miles‘, which refers to the distance food travels from where it’s produced to where it’s consumed. I used a pizza as an example to show the girls how far some of our everyday ingredients come from. While many of us may order a pizza from a local restaurant just down the road, the ingredients on that pizza may have travelled thousands of miles to reach us.

Here’s a quick summary of the food miles for the ingredients on our pizza:

• Flour for the base – from Canada (3,300 miles)
• Tomatoes – from Italy, the home of pizza (900 miles)
• Beef tomato – from Morocco (1,300 miles)
• Red onion – grown in the UK (200 miles)
• Pineapples – grown in Kenya (4,500 miles)
• Peppers – grown in Spain (900 miles)
• Mushrooms – grown in Holland (300 miles)
• Sweetcorn – produced in Thailand (6,000 miles)
• Black pepper – from India (4,200 miles)
• Mozzarella cheese – also from Italy (900 miles)

In total, the ingredients for this pizza travelled an incredible 22,500 miles to reach us! This helped the girls realise that many of the foods we enjoy daily – including the delicious pizza we had for lunch today – come from various parts of the world. If they’re now inspecting food labels at home, it’s because I encouraged them to be curious like Curiosity Fox and find out where their food has travelled from.

We also explored the environmental and economic costs of food transportation. While modern transport allows us to enjoy food from all over the world, it also consumes a significant amount of fuel and affects both the environment and the prices we pay. Furthermore, the farmers and producers, who grow our food, often don’t receive fair compensation for their hard work.

As we celebrate the Harvest Festival, I encouraged the girls to reflect on how interconnected we are with people across the globe, even through the simple act of eating. I shared with them a quote from Martin Luther King that I think resonates deeply with the theme of our assembly:“Before you finish eating your breakfast this morning, you’ve depended on half the world.”

Once again, thank you for your support and generous donations, which will make a meaningful difference to those in need.

As we move through this week and into the half-term break, I would like to extend my best wishes to all those celebrating Sukkot or Diwali:

• Chag Sukkot Sameach! May your Sukkot celebration be filled with joy, togetherness and abundant blessings as you gather in gratitude.
• For Diwali, wishing you a joyous and radiant festival of lights. May this special time bring prosperity, happiness, and the warmth of togetherness with your loved ones.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy Harvest Festival!