The NFU is upping its role in the national campaign to make children more aware of where produce comes from.
The union has commissioned the educational charity FACE (Farming and Countryside Education) to produce teachers packs linked into the Why Farming Matters promotion.
The move ties in with the national Year of Food and Farming, which will run during the school year of September 2007 to January 2008 in a bid to make enduring links between schools and the farming community.
The new NFU teaching materials comprise booklets which feature a set of activities for children at key stages two and three on a variety of farming topics, as well as three sets of picture cards and a DVD containing interviews with farmers about their lives and work.
The teaching packs will be aimed at school teachers at both primary and secondary school level.
NFU project leader Guy Smith explained that the initiative has been created in response grower and farmer calls for schoolchildren to have a better understanding of their industry.
“Today’s children are tomorrow’s consumers and tomorrow’s countryside visitors. As an industry we must be proactive in getting materials into schools that explain agriculture in a positive, balanced and curriculum-relevant manner,” he continued.
FACE executive director Bill Graham stressed that helping schoolchildren to learn about farming and the countryside was a key objective for the charity, and expressed his belief that the new resources would have a positive effect on teaching and learning. The initiative also ticks all the right boxes in terms of the industry being more proactive in getting its message across, he pointed out.
And Sir Don Curry added: “These packs will play a major part in teaching children about why farming matters and will make a significant contribution towards the Year of Food and Farming in achieving its aims.
In a related development, NFU president Peter Kendall this week made an appearance at the Burton Fields Farming and Countryside Schools’ Day, which saw over 900 pupils from local rural and urban schools in attendance.
Kendall was on hand as the children collected goodie bags full of information and giveaways to remind them of their day out.
“It is quite astonishing how little some children, and their parents, know about where their food comes from. The survey undertaken by LEAF in June for Open Farm Sunday produced some shocking statistics. We need to ensure that the Year helps to reverse the lack of knowledge and gets children interested and involved in food, healthy eating and the countryside,” he said.
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