Farm & Country School’s education day another big success
Over seven hundred primary school children enjoyed a hand's on day learning about farming and food at the second Farm & Country Day held within the Exhibition Halls at the Royal Cornwall Showground, which will play host once again on the 5, 6 & 7th June to the Royal Cornwall Show.
Pupils from St Mary Catholic School, Falmouth learn about ploughing with steward Peter Hardaker
Over seven hundred primary school children enjoyed a hand’s on day learning about farming and food at the second Farm & Country Day held within the Exhibition Halls at the Royal Cornwall Showground, which will play host once again on the 5, 6 & 7th June to the Royal Cornwall Show.
After the overwhelming success of the first Farm & Country Day, which took place in March 2013, the event has become an annual and much anticipated fixture in the annual calendar of joint organisers the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association (RCAA) and the Cornwall Food & Farming Group (CFFG).
The pupils, aged between seven and nine years of age, were drawn from 19 schools from across Cornwall. Over 175 farmers, food producers and representatives from businesses and organisations related to agriculture created exhibits to bring the story food takes from field to fork alive.
Bids from pupils are plentiful as auctioneer Edward Buckland sells sheep to pupils from St Breock Primary School, Wadebridge
Children came face to face with cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry, found out how vets care for farm animals, visited a milking parlour, met worms and explored soils as well as arable and vegetable crops.
Tasting local food, created from locally grown and reared produce also featured. Chef Sanjay Kumar, who led the children in an interactive session creating Cornish spring rolls using local seasonal vegetables, feels that food education is vitally important.
“The Farm and Country day is a fantastic way to introduce kids to the hands on joy of experiencing farm life.
“In a world of mass produced factory food and widespread industrialisation, this day is a vital link digging into the basics of where food produce comes from.”
Rob Wallbank, year three teacher from Biscovey Academy said the children thoroughly enjoyed the event, taking a huge amount away from it.
“The children were engrossed from the first minute to the last and the talk on the way home was all about the different experiences they had.
“Their favourites being holding the new born chicks, watching the sheep being sheared and trying out some local produce.”
Rebecca Lobb, a teacher from Trevisker Primary School, St Eval was impressed by how well the exhibitors captivated the children.
“We had to usher the children away from the exhibits because they were so fascinated and transfixed and would have happily have spent hours on end at each stop.
“That is always a very good sign that everything was pitched perfectly for them.”
RCAA media and education manager, Steven Michell, said that whilst the day was great fun it presented a prime opportunity to educate the children on how the countryside that surrounds them works.
“Surprisingly even in a rural county like Cornwall, children and young people are increasingly unaware of where their food comes from.
“It’s therefore not surprising that there are so many misconceptions about farming, the day gives farmers and food producers a chance to challenge them and help create a better informed future generation of customers and colleagues.
“We are indebted to the numerous volunteers and sponsors, who assisted schools with travel costs, who make this event possible and such a rewarding experience for all.
“We were hugely oversubscribed for this year’s event, so it’s encouraging there is appetite among Cornish primary schools to learn about the links between farming and food.”
