Farmers to teach school children the farming story with #CowsOnTour

The initiative aims to get children to understand where their food comes from and the journey from farm to plate
The initiative aims to get children to understand where their food comes from and the journey from farm to plate

Farmers will bring their #CowsOnTour to a school next week in an innovative way to tell the farming story to children.

#CowsOnTour consists of a group of farmers from Monmouthshire and Glamorgan, who have in the past visited schools in London and Cardiff.

They will now be heading to Marshfield Primary School in Newport on Friday 11 May, offering a day full of farming fun and facts to over 450 children.

The farmers believe teaching farming and food education is an important element of the school day, giving pupils an opportunity to engage with farmers themselves.

Ian Williams, NFU Cymru County Chairman said: “One day they will be making a career choice and if we can provide any source of education or provide any help to them in choosing a career path - that would be fantastic.”

The initiative aims to get children to understand where their food comes from and the journey from farm to plate.

It starts by explaining where milk and flour comes from and then shows the steps involved in achieving the end product, as a way of illustrating how the entire food chain works.

Matthew Shervington-Jones, Chairman of #CowsOnTour said: “We will be working with children ranging from three to eleven and hope to incorporate how agriculture has progressed and developed through generations in order to ensure that food is produced for the nation.

“We have also committed to clearing out the school pond and landscaping an area where pupils can enjoy the wildlife and natural habitat so they understand that farmers care about the landscape, the environment and food production, and all aspects go hand in hand.”

The school visit follows news released last year that shows there are some serious misconceptions children have about food.

According to research by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), which spoke to more than 27,500 children across the UK, cheese comes from plants, tomatoes grow underground and fish fingers are made of chicken.

In 2015, a survey showed that more than four in five primary age school children said they would visit a farm to find out more about where their food comes from.