More than 50,000 students are set to take part in NFU Harvest Live this week, where they will be making meals with British produce while virtually meeting all the farmers and growers who created the ingredients they are using.
Primary school children will be taught to use the basic principles of a healthy and balanced diet to prepare dishes. Key Stage 1 students will be crafting rainbow salads today (Tuesday) and Key Stage 2 will be preparing pizzas on Wednesday.
The experience aims to engage pupils as well as teach them about seasonality, show them how the food they eat is grown, reared, caught and processed, and gives them the chance to ask the expert panel any questions they have about food and farming.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “Understanding where our food comes from is fundamental to creating a healthy, balanced diet. These sessions are absolutely crucial in helping the future generation learn about the farm to fork process – such as seeing how cheese is made – and using a range of cooking techniques to create a delicious meal.
“Bringing food and farming into the classroom in such a practical way has two major benefits; firstly, by creating real-life experiences to learn from and second, giving them insight into agriculture and inspiring them to think about food and farming as an exciting career choice.
“It’s great to see the continued success of our live lessons, from our Science Week Live Lessons earlier in the year, to now reaching over 50,000 students in our biggest ever harvest festival – it’s fantastic to know we are connecting with so many students up and down our country with British food and farming at the heart.”