The first week of June this year marks Growing for Wellbeing week, celebrating the physical and mental health benefits of gardening and growing your own produce. As one of the UK’s leading food manufacturers, Quattro Foods is committed to creating and supplying food products of the highest quality to the retail and wholesale sectors, including restaurants and high street chains, the UN, the army, the NHS and colleges around the country. By supporting you, our customers, as well as our own staff, to celebrate your green fingers, we’re bringing joy, health and a sense of achievement to all.
Together let’s explore the traditional yet entirely current and relevant skill of growing your own greens. Enjoy the serenity of your garden, particularly during this unprecedented time where staying in is the new going out. Learn to appreciate every corner and nuance of your outdoor space, harnessing the power of nature by embarking on a new home-based hobby.
With a passion for sourcing local ingredients and cooking with fresh produce, the team at Quattro Foods has been supporting each other to grow our own vegetables in our gardens at home and we are proud to celebrate this exciting initiative, which sits perfectly alongside our menu development for the education sector. Keeping minds healthy and encouraging everyone to lead a more sustainable lifestyle is our aim and supporting this unique initiative is a fruitful and exciting start.
It’s not what you grow, it’s how YOU grow
Founded by social enterprise Life at No.27, Growing for Wellbeing brings the power of gardening to the public, highlighting its ability to “support anyone struggling with isolation, mental and physical ill health.” Changing the perception of gardening from a slow-paced retirement hobby to a valuable physical and mental activity with endless benefits, Growing for Wellbeing brings the joy of nature to the British public.
The emotional and physical benefits of gardening are clear to see. It’s a calorie-burning physical activity, which releases endorphins, improving mood. It allows you to spend endless time in the fresh air, away from screens and technology – overall it’s a powerful tool for staying mentally and physically fit. Being outdoors offers ‘headspace’ and time to think things through and is a distraction from every day stresses. Research reports improved mental health, confidence and motivation as a result of gardening as well as a general restoration of balance and control.
At Quattro Foods we encourage this creative connection to nature, demonstrated by our commitment to growing young minds through our work with the education sector. Our Business Development Chef was part of the team that conceived new school menus, following Jamie Oliver’s acclaimed televised campaign to improve school meals. With an understanding of the need to offer nutritious and tasty food to fuel growing minds and an appreciation of the challenges faced by busy caterers in schools, we offer choice, flexibility and taste, promoting health and wellbeing through nutritious and balanced meals.
Get those gardening gloves on and have a great summer with your green fingers!