east of england farming feature

8/13/2019 East of England Farming Feature

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93Thursday,July11, 2013 www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk PETERBOROUGHTELEGRAPH

Whatdoyougetifyouputtogethermorethan4,000schoolchildren,addsomeserioussunshineandanen-gagingdayofruraleduca-tion,allenjoyedinthegreatoutdoors?

It is easy. You get beamingyoung faces that are eagerlylearning about the journeytheir food makes, and thegreat opportunitiesthe Brit-ishfarmingindustrypresents.

Thisconceptis allpart of anon-goingprogramme,KidsCountry,whichisbeingrunbytheEast of England Agricul-turalSociety.

The Food and Farmingday, part of theKidsCountryprogramme, formedanotherpart of the society’s educa-tion incentive, which aimsto teach young people aboutfood,farmingandagriculturein Britain.

Peterborough City Coun-cilprovidedfree transport sothat 43 schoolscould attendtheFoodandFarmingdayandit offered a great opportunityforschoolchildrento witnessrst hand theimportance of locallysourcedproduce,whilealsoallowingthemtheoppor-tunitytolearnthewholefoodand farm experience, fromcultivatingseedstocaringforcows.

Jeremy Staples, chief ex-ecutiveof theEastof EnglandAgricultural Society, said:“The Society hasbeenblownaway by the success of theKidsCountryFoodandFarm-ing day.

“Ourcharity is about edu-cationand rural life,whichisatthe topof theagenda mov-ing forward. This is the newevent that we want to focuson,and thisis ourfuture.

“It has been such a hugesuccess, and plans includeopportunitiesto build on theevent, andlook atextendingitovertwodays,withone-dayopen to the public. There is£7billionworthofagriculturebusinessinthearea,andtheyarefullysupportingourfutureeventsand us.

“Everyonehaslearntsome-thing today, and it’s a great

messagefromtheSocietythatwearedoingsomethingreallyworthwhile.”

Nationaland localexhibi-torsduring theday includedthe National Farmers’ Union(NFU).

Brian Finnerty, regionalcommunications advisor atthe NFU, explained: “Thesekindofeventsareveryimpor-tanttousattheNFU.Anongo-ingchallengeis toget young

EVENTREPORT

FoodforthoughtatShowground

people involved in farming.There are 40,000 to 50,000people that work in agricul-tureinourareaandaquarter

oftheseareduetoretireinthenext10years.

“Theindustryhaschangedand we need skilled peopletrainedin computing andus-inghigh-techmachinery.It isagreatcareerchoiceforyoungpeople in Cambridgeshire,

whichis oneof themostpro-ductive agriculture countiesin thecountry.”

Duringthe day, a livestockeventalsotookplaceandchil-dren enjoyed ge ingclosetofarmyard animals as part of theirlearning experience.

Now, morethan ever, con-sumers are thinking moreaboutwheretheirfoodcomesfrom, and events such theseofferagreatunderstandingof

howto monitorthe traceabil-ityofourmeatandvegetables.

HarryHorrell(24),ofPodeHole Farm, Thorney, andchairman of Oundle YoungFarmers, believes that weneedtobedoingallthatwecantoencourageyoungpeoplein-

tofarming,aswellassupport-ing Britishagriculture.He said: “Farming is not

just a job, it’sa lifestyle and agreat wayof enjoyingthe out-doorsandkeepingt. A largepercentage of farmers are50yearsplusandsothereisarealneed foryoung peopleto em-bracethe industry.

“Young people do seemmoreconsciousofwheretheirfoodcomesfromandtous,itis

Mayorof PeterboroughJuneStokeswith childrentakinga tractorride .

Youngsters get a close up view of the cattle judging . Visi ting school childr en at the showgro und main stand.

B Ann R gginews@peterborughtoday.co.uk01733588726@PeterboroughTel

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allabouttraceability.IfyouseetheRed TractorLogoon yourfood,you canbe assured thattheproductcanbetracedbacktoa Britishfarm.”

Everyonerememberstheirfavourite school trips, thesenseoffreedomandalearn-

ing environment away fromthehumdrumatmosphere of theclassroom.

Susie Hall, head of equal-ityservicestoschoolsandgov-ernanceat PeterboroughCityCouncil, said:“The highlightof thedayfor me,waswatch-ing 600 schoolchildren play-ing a ukulele created out of U erly Bu erly tubs.Eventslikethisgivechildrenafantas-tic learningexperience.”

“Ourcharityisabout education

andrural life,whichisatthe

topoftheagendamovingforward.”

JeremyStaples