As food is one of life’s necessities you would think that it is important to know at least a little of where it comes from? Not so in the younger generation and the youth of today, to the extent that the majority of them don’t know where items such as milk actually comes from and would probably answer with “the supermarket” if they could be bothered to raise more than a grunt to a common sense question.

 

As a child of the 80’s we didn’t have the kind of “tool kit” that today’s kids have – mobile phone, tablet, games console etc and so we were always outside and naturally exploring what there was around us. I have always lived in semi-rural and rural locations with plenty of wide-open space to go at, today’s youngsters are kept in urbanised isolation with their electronic gadgets and double glazing which has resulted in them becoming a sickly generation and putting a strain on the health system – kids who have an active outdoor life are invariably less prone to sickness as a result.

 

Education of the younger generation in the simplistic workings of food production is one of the ways that we can turn the consumer’s viewpoint towards supporting the farming industry in our own country. The children don’t need to know or understand the differences in the types of wheats grown, all they need to know is that it comes from a field, affected by the weather and goes through several important processes to become bread & cereals which grace their tables on a daily basis. My son is autistic and so his understanding of things is harder than that of most children. To conquer that we kept it simple with 3 steps : Beet – Sugar – Frosted Flakes!  He watched the beet being harvested in the fields around the house, and loaded into the lorries to go the beet factory. We showed him a bag of sugar alongside a piece of beet that was split open to give him just the association of the two. Finally we showed him the sugar next to his breakfast cereal of frosted flakes to link all three together. If he can understand it then I am sure that most children can?

I would whole heartedly support the education of children on a simplistic level by having a visit to a farm and Open Farm Sunday is the perfect opportunity for this, there is so much to learn and fun to be had. I will be visiting again this year, and would encourage non-farming parents to take their children too, it’s a great and valuable experience.

More information can be found : www.farmsunday.org Quote from website “The farmyard provides an excellent classroom for children to learn how their food is produced whilst enjoying themselves”