Young Marketeers

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Through our national Young Marketeers programme, primary school children learn about local and environmental impacts of food, grow their own vegetables, engage in food marketing, and sell their harvests at their community market.

What is the Young Marketeers programme?

Young Marketeers is a food education programme that gives primary school children an opportunity to learn about food production, grow their own veg, and set up a stall at their local community market. During the programme, our expert gardeners, chefs and programme leads deliver a series of four or five sessions to children. The sessions focus on:

educating children on local and national food production and waste
teaching children how to grow and harvest their own vegetables
sharing marketing tips on how to sell their produce in local markets

Participating children will have an opportunity to discuss the programme through school assemblies, get their hands in the soil through gardening and seed sowing sessions, indulge their creativity through marketing sessions, and manage a market stall at their local street market.

The programme culminates in a lovely Market Day when our Young Marketeers sell the produce they have grown in their school gardens. As all proceeds from Market Day go to local food surplus and redistribution charities, there is an opportunity for children to understand the power of community engagement in tackling food poverty.

Young Marketeers Summer Market Day
Young Marketeers Market Day
Children growing at school
Young Marketeers Market Day - children with produce
Young Marketeers Harvest Market Day
Young Marketeers Market Day - school child with rhubarb
Young Marketeers Market Day - children with produce
Young Marketeers Harvest Market Day

Where does SFM deliver Young Marketeers?

This year, we’re bringing our Young Marketeers programme to more than 100 schools in 16 counties and cities across England. In 2026, we will deliver programmes in Barking and Dagenham, Barnsley, Bedford, Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Gloucestershire, Knowsley, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth and Sheffield.

What is the Young Marketeers Winter programme?

During the winter, we take our Young Marketeers mission to local secondary schools. Here, students learn to create a range of delicious winter-warming soups with our Food Teacher Sharon as well as fresh ciabatta with our incredible friends at Bread Ahead. Once the schools perfect their recipes, it’s time to sell, sell, sell at Borough Market, as they raise money for food redistribution charity Plan Zheroes.

Can I attend a seasonal sale?

Yes! Find out how we got on at our 2026 Market Days on our blog. Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for updates on the project and future Market Days.

How are Young Marketeers programmes funded?

Young Marketeers is made possible through the generous support of local authorities, businesses, trusts and foundations across England.

We are grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for its support of Young Marketeers, helping fund the programme in many areas alongside local partners and enabling us to deliver it fully in cities including Liverpool, London, Plymouth and Sheffield.

Our local partners include London Borough of Barking and Dagenham; Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council; The Harpur Trust (Bedford); Birmingham City Council; Bradford Council; Business in the Community (Coventry); Stroud Town Council Community Support Fund and Cainscross Town Council (Gloucestershire); Knowsley Council; Lord Barnby’s Foundation (Leeds); The Nineveh Charitable Trust (Leicester); OakNorth Bank (Manchester); and the CLA Charitable Trust (Newcastle).

If you would like to become a partner and support young people to develop a love of food, growing and enterprise through hands-on outdoor learning, please contact our Development Manager, Dela Foster, at dela@schoolfoodmatters.org.

Young Marketeers in the press!

In 2026, our Young Marketeers were celebrated in local press across England:

Barking and Dagenham: Barking and Dagenham Post, Barking and Dagenham Star, London Now
Barnsley: Barnsley Chronicle, We Are Barnsley
Bedford: Bedford Today, Love Bedford
Birmingham: Birmingham Magazine, Birmingham World
Bradford: Bradford Community Broadcasting (BCB), Bradford Magazine, The Telegraph and Argus
Coventry: Coventry Magazine, Coventry Observer (online), Coventry Observer (print)
Gloucestershire: BBC Gloucestershire (online), BBC Radio Gloucestershire, BBC Points West, Stroud News and Journal, Stroud Times
Leeds: BBC Radio Leeds, BBC News West Yorkshire (online), Leeds TV, Yorkshire Evening Post
Liverpool and Knowsley: BBC Radio Merseyside, Explore Liverpool, Knowsley News, Liverpool Magazine, Mersey Reporter
London: Charity Today, Londontheinside
Manchester: Manchester Magazine
Newcastle: BBC Radio Newcastle, Newcastle Magazine
Plymouth: BBC Radio Devon, BBC Spotlight, Plymouth Herald (print)
Sheffield: Sheffield Magazine, The Star (online), The Star (print)

How can our school get involved in the Young Marketeers programme?

We normally recruit schools between September and November. Please email enquiries@schoolfoodmatters.org if you are interested in bringing Young Marketeers to your school.