2026 evaluation finds every participating school wants to repeat the tomato-growing project in 2027

77 per cent of pupils said they were more willing to eat tomatoes following the campaign

77 per cent of pupils said they were more willing to eat tomatoes following the campaign

Image: Veg Power

100,000 primary school children across the UK have benefitted from not-for-profit alliance Veg Power’s ‘Growing to Love’ campaign. 

25,000 children across 387 schools participated in 2026, marking the fourth year running of the campaign. 

The #GrowingtoLove campaign, which returned to primary schools in April, saw pupils growing their own tomato plants and looking after them at home during the school holidays, with the tomatoes now set to ripen anytime soon. 

As a result of the campaign, 77 per cent of pupils said they were more willing to eat tomatoes.

According to an evaluation involving 89 schools, 100 per cent of participating schools said they wanted to repeat the experience in 2027, with 98 per cent saying the programme was easy to deliver. 90 per cent of teachers said it helped them deliver the curriculum.

Teachers who participated praised the campaign’s engaging resources, describing it as highly effective in encouraging children to try a wider range of vegetables. 

Participating chools were provided with a pack which contained all necessary growing materials including window sill propagation kits, seeds, organic vegetable feed, peat-free compost and plant labels. 

The packs also contained a range of learning resources including a handbook, instructional videos and curriculum-compliant lesson plans. 

Dan Parker, chief executive of Veg Power, said: “We’ve run Growing to Love for four years now and we are so pleased that 100,000 children across the UK have now experienced this fun, hands-on activity that importantly supports their learning and vegetable acceptance. 

“We designed the campaign to be fun and easy to implement for busy teachers and as 100% of teachers said their pupils really enjoyed it and 100% of schools want to repeat the experience, we can safely say the campaign has been a great success,” he added.

As with previous years, the campaign was supported by a range of experts including TV and radio presenter Sam Nixon and former Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins. Shaun the Sheep also featured in the campaign as part of Veg Power’s ongoing collaboration with Aardman Animation. 

Growing to Love will return to primary schools in April 2026 with registration opening in January. 

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