YOUNGSTERS came together to prepare eco-friendly corned beef pasties, ready to take to the recent Abergavenny Food Festival.

They were accompanied by Rob Whittall from Square Farm near Mitchel Troy, which grows organic produce and crops, and which they used some of to make the tasty fare.

Nicola James, sustainability officer at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School and who works at Size of Wales – a Welsh charity which is helping protect tropical forests around the world – has been working alongside children from local schools on an innovative campaign to put children in charge of their primary school menus.

They are encouraged to become ‘deforestation detectives’ auditing their food, cooking up planet-friendly alternatives and have called on the Welsh Government, Monmouthshire Council and businesses to act.

This is now a national campaign, but it started here in the county.

Last year at the Abergavenny Food Festival, the children redesigned their primary school chicken korma to be deforestation-free by swapping chicken, likely fed on soy, for beans and pulses.

One of the initiatives the children have been working on this year is their corned beef pasty project.

One of the students said: “I tried corned beef for the first time last week, and it was really good and now this week we have made our own corned beef and we’re making corned beef pasties.

“Last week we started the corned beef by adding salt and it would preserve it keeping all the bacteria away, and this corned beef pasty is going all the way to the Abergavenny Food Festival and even you can try it,” said another student.”

And the proof was in the eating at Abergavenny Food Festival on Saturday, September 21, at the Local and Vocal stage.

At the festival, the pupils stepped into a time machine where food tells the story, called Tables: A Taste Through Time – a one-of-a-kind immersive experience blending theatre, tasting, and truth-telling all through the lens of one iconic ingredient: corned beef.

Wales currently consumes more corned beef than the UK average.

Most corned beef comes from Brazil, which is high risk for deforestation and social impacts, such as abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

During the performance, people had the opportunity to hear from Rob Whittall of Square Farm, chefs including MasterChef champion, James Nathan, as well as pupils who have campaigned to make their schools meals deforestation free and change makers.

And festival goers took the opportunity to reflect, tasting deforestation-free corned beef pasties, and imagining “a more just, regenerative food system which protects tropical forests and the indigenous community

Local pupils have been working on many projects including their Youth Environmental Charter which was recently presented at The Savoy Theatre in Monmouth and talking to the community about what we can do to make Monmouth a more sustainable and deforestation free environment.

You can read about the children's Youth Environmental Charter here: