More than 200 schools in counties including Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, plus central London, have held farming-themed activities during Back British Farming Day 鈥� the NFU鈥檚 flagship annual celebration of British food and farming.
School contract catering company organised events including talks on where food comes from, a Great British Bake-Off style carrot cake making competition using locally-sourced carrots, toy tractor displays and tractor colouring-in competitions.
Many schools displayed posters with stories about 鈥榝arming heroes鈥� from the local area.
Teaching about food provenance
鈥淲e have always been passionate about providing children with fresh, local, produce and helping children to understand where their food comes from, so we contacted the NFU in December to see how we can work together and we are now working in partnership,鈥� said Graham Ogden, food and engagement manager at Accent Catering.
鈥淲e are helping children in inner city schools to grow their own vegetables and we plan to work with the NFU to bring some farmers into schools to give talks.
鈥淟earning about local food helps these children to develop knowledge and pride in their local community.鈥�
Supporting #BackBritishFarmingDay
Back British Farming Day, which takes place for the ninth year today (Wednesday 11 September), saw the NFU host a parliamentary reception and invite MPs to champion British farming by wearing the wool and wheat-pin badge.
People across the country showed their support for British food and farming on social media throughout the day using .
Mr Ogden said: 鈥淲e are getting behind Back British Farming Day in a big way this year and we look forward to working more with the NFU in the future.
鈥淲e want this generation to set the standard for the future.鈥�