The impact Plant Your Pants could have for local communities

Jannine speaking at an event. She's in front of a lectern

14 February 2023

Coordinator Jannine McMahon explains her involvement with the Country Trust and how our Plant Your Pants campaign will contribute to local communities, farmers, and children nationwide.

A bit about me

I work in local schools for The Country Trust as a Food Discovery Coordinator based in Manchester. My role aims to reconnect children with the land that sustains us all by providing them with the opportunity to take part in projects where they can learn more about our food, environment, and planet through hands-on activities. This way of learning helps children build confidence, and curiosity, and increases their connection to nature.

The importance of soil to me

As a farmer, I have a love for the countryside, and healthy soil is an important part of that. Soil not only supports my health but also provides continuous support for our planet. If we don’t have access to healthy soil, then the food we rely on will not provide the nutrition our bodies need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

3 facts I love about soil:

Healthy soil preserves our earth.
Soil is home to billions of organisms.
Healthy soil puts food on our plates, purifies our water and protects us from floods.

Why farmers and communities should get involved in Plant Your Pants

I have seen first-hand the relationship between farmers and communities being broken down over the years, and have noticed we have become more disconnected from nature than ever before.

Plant Your Pants has the potential to build that relationship up again, encourage social change and be used as a tool for our wider communities to get involved in protecting land that is local to us.

How Plant Your Pants could help my local community

In Salford, we live near one of the largest areas of peat bogs in England. It’s a place of beauty, built up of organic matter and peat soil. Sadly, it is under threat. Plant Your Pants will help Greater Manchester to keep building relationships with our children and provide education about the importance of soil and how Chat Moss (an area that covers 30% of Salford) is a major green lung for the city that needs to be looked after.

How I’m planning to get involved

Thanks to the HAF (a national project born through Marcus Rashford’s Children’s Food Security Campaign) and in partnership with Salford Council, we have secured funding for the local community that will enable us to run Plant Your Pants activity sessions at our farm in April and July. My three children will also be participating!

The nationwide impact of Plant Your Pants

This campaign helps scientists discover more about our soil, which contributes to optimising food security, protecting our land, and increasing our understanding of climate change. Plant Your Pants also provides a fun and exciting opportunity for children to learn more about climate change and to bring about positive social change through influencing children to build a climate-conscious mindset through our actions and habits for future generations to come.