STUDENTS from locals schools in the area came together on Tuesday September 16, to prepare their corned beef pasties, ready to take to Abergavenny Food Festival.

They were accompanied by Rob Whittall from Square Farm which provides grows organic produce and crops and they used some from his farm to make these pasties.

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 the children from local schools as they have been running an innovative campaign to put children in charge of their primary schools menus and become deforestation detectives auditing their menu, cooking up planet friendly alternatives and calling for the Welsh Government, the Council and businesses to act.

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

One of the projects the children have been working on is the corned beef project. Last year at the Abergavenny Food Festival the children had redesigned their primary school chicken korma to be deforestation free by swapping chicken, likely fed on soy for beans sand pulses.

This year in a similar way they are exploring corned beef and turning it into corned beef pasties.

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.”

This will be showcased at Abergavenny Food Festival on Saturday 21st September at 2.30 until 3.15pm at the Local and vocal stage.

At the festival they will be stepping into a time machine where food tells the story. Three Tables: A Taste Through Time is 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 will have the opportunity to hear from a Monmouth based farmer, Rob Whittall from 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.

They will be reflecting, tasting a deforestation free corned beef pasty, and imagining a more just, regenerative food system which protects tropical forests and Indigenous Peoples.

They have been working on many projects including their Youth Environmental Charter which was presented at The Savoy Theatre in Monmouth, 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: