Did you hear today’s news about a new study by the British Nutrition Foundation? They surveyed over 27,500 children across the UK.
And guess what?
Children’s knowledge of where there food comes from is shockingly poor. Almost a third (29%) of primary school children think that cheese comes from plants, and nearly one in five (18%) say that fish fingers come from chicken.
These findings add to the growing body of evidence that children and young adults are disconnected from the food they eat and the environment that sustains that food production.
This is bad news for UK agriculture and UK wildlife. If today’s children don’t understand our countryside, they won’t help support the people that live there. The more complex relationship between sustainable farming and healthy wildlife, good water management, carbon storage and combating climate change, and other public goods that farming delivers will certainly be lost on them. Until its too late.
So how do we get children to understand and value farming and our countryside? Access is a good starting point. Although today’s study found that almost 4 out of 5 primary school children had visited a farm, it may simply be not frequently enough. Earlier this year the Oxford Farming Conference also reported that 80% of school children had visited a farm, but that was quantified as ‘within the previous 3 years’.
So all efforts to improve access to the countryside has to be effort well spent. It’s why education is a key factor when we are judging budding winners in our Nature of Farming Award. This year’s regional and country winners will be announced over the next few weeks, and public voting for the overall winner will open next month. Watch this space to make sure you cast your vote!
Another great opportunity to connect people to farming and our countryside is Open Farm Sunday, which takes place this coming Sunday (9th June). The farmers that take the time and trouble to run these events do a really important job in helping to show children where cheese really comes from. A huge thank you to all of you running events this weekend.
Whacky image courtesy of FreakingNews.com