New report highlights extensive work of agri-education organisation in teaching children about link between farming and food
LEAF Education is delivering meaningful learning opportunities to British children in a bid to help them better understand the UK agri-food industry, a new report finds.
The agri-education organisation’s latest Impact Report, published yesterday (20 February), revealed that LEAF Education reached a total of 733,530 young people in 2023 via its on-farm, online and in-class activities.
Data from the study showed that 296,280 children engaged in activities downloaded from Countryside Classroom, and 260,306 kids took part in #FarmingFortnight.
Meanwhile, some 64,412 young people got involved in farming activities through LEAF Education’s project work. And throughout last year, LEAF Eduction organised farm visits for 38,032 kids.
Commenting on the organisation’s didactic achievements in 2023, Carl Edwards, LEAF director, education and public engagement, said: ”The impact of our work and that of the agri-food industry can, and does, lead to positive outcomes for all: from providing young people with the opportunity to visit a farm and see how their food is produced, to working in partnership and collaborating with organisations to develop conscious future consumers who appreciate sustainable food production and farming practices, and consider how their personal food choices can have a climate positive impact.”
He added: “Over this last year we continue to be overwhelmed by the engagement of like-minded organisations, individual farmers, educators and more, with whom we have built a strong working relationship that has delivered these incredible results and real, tangible outcomes. We look forward to how we develop these relationships further over the coming year and beyond as the agri-food industry’s partner of choice in delivering meaningful education and wider public engagement opportunities. We are here to lead, to convene, to measure and to deliver transformative change.”
In a foreword to the Impact Report, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO and Honorary President of Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF), wrote: ”It has been my privilege to witness firsthand how LEAF Education have opened the eyes of so many young people to the world of opportunities in the agrifood sector. In the past year alone, I have seen countless times how direct, hands-on farm experiences can transform someone’s thinking, and give us all a much deeper understanding of the relationship between food production and planetary health.
“LEAF Education’s goal is to raise young people’s aspirations, to champion exciting career opportunities available in the food sector, and ensure we are all better informed as a society about how our personal food choices can make a difference to sustainability and climate change. The achievements outlined in these pages illustrate the positive progress we have made on that journey. I am so grateful to everyone who has made this important work possible, and I look forward to seeing what more we can achieve together in the months and years to come.”
To read the full report, please visit https://issuu.com/linking-environment-and-farming/docs/leaf_education_impact_report_2023?fr=sYTc4OTYzNTEzNjU
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