Students gain first-hand agriculture experience as part of AHDB event
As part of a new conference aimed at educating schoolchildren about food provenance and healthy eating, AHDB helped over 150 GCSE students gain first-hand experience of the agricultural industry.
The ‘Secondary School Series – Farming Food for You’ event, organised by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and LEAF Education in collaboration with the British Nutrition Foundation, took place at Plumpton College, East Sussex, on 14th November.
Pupils enjoyed activities aligned to the curriculum including a tour around the college’s dairy farm which featured a robotic milking system, and a bakery workshop where they made their own breadsticks.
Around 15 local food producers and agri-linked businesses also attended so students could understand the wider impact of farming and scope of the industry.
Roz Reynolds, head of education at AHDB, said: “It was fantastic to see so many young people experiencing a farm, many for the first time, and engaging with local food producers and farming businesses through hands-on activities. Much of our work focuses on supporting teachers with resources, so it’s been great to trial an interactive event focused on experiential learning for students themselves directly linked to the GCSE curriculum.”
The conference was one of a series of education pilots AHDB has been running this year to “inspire the consumers of tomorrow” by improving their understanding of where food comes from as well as developing cooking skills.
Carl Edwards, director of education and public engagement at LEAF, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with AHDB for the conference. It was an exciting event with the brilliant goal of educating young people about the agri-food industry, highlighting the many varied and exciting opportunities within the sector, and allowing them to engage first-hand with many local businesses involved.
Anne Pithie, marketing manager at Plumpton College, added: “Providing the opportunity for students to come and experience being on a working farm and learning about the business of food, in terms of nutrition and preparing food in our new training kitchen is what the new AgriFood Centre was built for.”
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