Yorkshire’s fascinating farming stories are being shared first-hand with schoolchildren in a new series of Farm to Fork visits organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Children from Ashfield Primary School in Otley enjoyed a fun educational visit to Birchfield Ice Cream Farm in Summerbridge, Nidderdale this week.
For some of the schoolchildren, this was their first experience of a working farm.
Their visit started with a trailer ride as they learnt all about the journey of food from field to dinner plate during their morning-long visit.
The children met goats, pigs and hens, as the Whitley family explained how they look after their animals.
On a visit to the farm’s dairy parlour, the children heard all about how Birchfield’s delicious ice cream is made.
The journey from farm to fork was complete as the children ended their visit with a bacon sandwich and a glass of milk in the farm’s café.
Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society said:
It is so important to educate new generations about where their food comes from and our Farm to Fork visits are great opportunities to do exactly that.
Yorkshire has such a wonderful farming story to share and the earlier we can get this message across to children the better. Our countryside is a place where high quality food and drink is produced by farming families to some of the very highest standards in the world.
YAS is passionate about educating future generations about all aspects of farming, food and the countryside, and offers a range of year-round educational events, shows and courses.
Ben Nowell, class teacher at Ashfield Primary School said:
As a teacher, we try to teach the children to make the best choice they believe in with the information that they have. We believe it is important for children to understand where their food comes from and how it is made so they can make informed, healthy decisions for themselves.
The YAS Farm to Fork visits can help address a worrying disconnect. A recent survey by Jordans Cereals found that a fifth (23%) of children aged 6-11 don’t know what a harvest is and 1 in 10 (11%) have never visited a farm.
Sarah Whitley, of Birchfield Ice Cream Farm added:
We’ve loved hosting Ashfield Primary School with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and hope the children have come away with a real insight into how farmers produce food and look after their animals and crops.
YAS organises school visits to local farms so children can experience the farm to fork journey first-hand throughout the year.
Primary schools and farms in Yorkshire that are interested in Farm to Fork visits can express their interest by emailing education@yas.co.uk
