Natural England

Website launches as local schools are sent first campaign update

New details have been announced about the upcoming Year of Food and Farming, as the campaign’s website and logo are unveiled, and more than 1296 schools in the region are contacted with details of the resources on offer.

The Year, which aims to re-capture children’s imagination about food and how it is produced, has urged all corners of the North East countryside to get involved with the campaign, and register their support at www.yearoffoodandfarming.org.uk

Organisers are hoping to sign up an unprecedented number of local farms and businesses to the campaign, so that pupils can be offered memorable, hands-on learning experiences based around three core areas: visits, growing experiences, and cooking food. By bringing together existing initiatives, creating new materials and recruiting thousands of volunteers, the Year aims to embed food and farming back into the curriculum, so that a new generation is given first-hand experiences of the countryside.

Although not every producer will be able to open its doors to the public, everyone involved in the region has a role to play: from hosting classroom activities to providing pupils with growing kits. The website is intended to co-ordinate all the offers of support over the next few months, and all members of the farming community have been urged to log on and enter their details. Once the Year officially launches in September, the website will display every single volunteer’s materials or events on an interactive Mega Map, meaning that teachers will be able to track down local initiatives using just a few clicks of the mouse.

Simon Henderson, Chair of the Year of Food and Farming Working Group in the North East, commented: “If everyone in the food chain gets behind this campaign, teachers in the North East will have thousands of ways to give young people direct experience of how their food is produced. The Year of Food and Farming campaign will literally be stamped on the landscape, with our online map signposting just how much support is available to schools. Next academic year is the food and farming industry’s real opportunity to engage a whole new generation with its work, products and people.”

Tony Cooke, Programme Director of the Year of Food and Farming, added: “It’s exciting to see our plans begin to come to fruition, as we work to transform the way food and farming is viewed in and out of the classroom. We’re not starting from scratch – there are hundreds of initiatives out there with a long history of success – but as our website launches we’re redoubling our efforts to create new partnerships, events and resources. Visit www.yearoffoodandfarming.org.uk to find out more about how you could get involved.”

Organisations and individuals involved in the campaign will also be able to use the official Year of Food and Farming logo, which is now available to download from the website.

Ends

FACTFILE – CHILDREN AND THE COUNTRYSIDE*

As an increasingly urbanised society, children are becoming disconnected from their food and the places it is grown.

• Almost half (46%) of 7-11 year olds have no involvement with growing food
• For 23% of that age group, being “in the countryside” means just driving through it
• More than a quarter of 11-16 year olds never visit the countryside

As we lose contact with where our food comes from or how it is prepared, it becomes harder to understand what a balanced diet is, and how it can contribute to good health. However, we know that children do have an appetite for learning more about food and where it comes from:

• 95% of 7-11 year olds who had been on a farm enjoyed it
• Two thirds of children claim to be eating more fruit than they were a year ago
• 35% of 11-16 year olds want to find out more about how their food is produced

The Year of Food and Farming will work to reconnect children with the countryside – not by preaching about better lifestyles, but by creating memorable, first-hand learning experiences that they will never forget.

*Source: FACE/ChildWise research, Autumn 2006 and Winter 2007

Notes to Editors

Spokespeople, photography and logos available. For further information, contact Jayne Thompson 0191 229 5513.

The Year of Food and Farming is a campaign to promote healthy living by giving children direct experience of food, farming and the countryside. It will gather together teaching resources from throughout the food chain, and create new materials which complement the hundreds of individually successful partnerships which already exist between schools and the countryside.

Running through the academic year September 2007 to July 2008, the Year was developed by Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) and is endorsed by the Department for Education and Skills, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department of Health. The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) is hosting the programme office for the Year. A huge number of organisations are involved in driving forward the work to prepare for the start of the Year in September. The Year is also being supported financially by the English Beef and Lamb Executive, Milk Development Council, British Potato Council, Horticultural Development Council, Home Grown Cereals Authority, British Pig Executive and Dairy UK and reserves held over from the previous Year of Food and Farming in 1989. HRH The Prince of Wales will be its Patron.