Face call for educational reform in support of farming
The Royal Agricultural Society of England, August 2003, Warwickshire A recent FACE (Farming and Countryside Education) survey has identified disturbing gaps in children's knowledge of food and the countryside that are set to widen unless remedial action is taken.
Part face-to-face and part internet based, the research, was carried out with 1300 11-16 years olds from secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales, in March.
The survey highlighted a lack of understanding of the balanced food plate, as whilst most children were familiar with the concept, many struggled to identify all five food groupings. Most children cited ready meals and takeaways as their favourite foods.
The research also showed that children understood that the countryside had a value because of the clean air, and pleasant surroundings not because it was a place to live or that it provided essential resources. Some had never visited a Farmers Market and did not understand the concept of cutting out 'the middleman' to buy produce direct from the Farmer as opposed to via the supermarket etc. Head of Education for FACE, Bill Graham called for "Heightened support for increased farm visits for children and greater awareness in schools about food, the countryside and farming with Farmers and Growers providing the information and acting as ambassadors for the industry."
"The situation is like a time bomb waiting to detonate. Things will only worsen if these areas are not prioritised into the national curriculum" warned Graham. "The commonly held belief within farming is that the average worker is typically aged 58. To interest new younger entrants, even initial basic knowledge about life in rural communities would be valuable in order to ensure the sustainability of the industry."
Chris Philpot manages Barleylands Farm in Essex, which offers visitors a working Farm, Museum, Craft Village, regular Farmers Markets and Car Boot Sales. Children are able to observe modern farming techniques along side meeting and feeding the farm animals.
"It is a sad fact that children perceive farming as a declining industry, non progressive in nature, lacking in excitement and quite old fashioned. Frankly, why would they want to enter it? The truth of the matter is that there is a lot of good news to shout about. The UK has some of the best environmentally friendly farmers on the planet. Farmers have planted 87 million trees in the past 10 years, and over 6,000 miles of hedgerows which provide homes for birds, animals and insects."
Philpot continued, "Children don't perceive Farming as being important to them, and this is because they are not connecting it with their source of food. Teachers need to be more forthright about what Farming involves; for example children do understand that some animals are slaughtered and why this is. There is an immense need for better education, and Farmers and the industry have got to learn to spread our positive news more and be more inventive and enthusiastic about how they do it. Farming needs a more positive press so that it is not seen as the industry to go into if you want to receive continual knocks."
Through its field team of eight regional consultants, each of whom has a background in education; FACE offers workshops and seminars for teachers and farmers to encourage cooperative working. Support and advice is provided for farmers new to the concept of school visits. This includes assistance with understanding how schools operate, provision of insight into appropriate language for the varying key stages so that Farmers are able to convey positive messages.
FACE administers a "one-stop" enquiry service for pupils and teachers. By keeping
abreast of curriculum developments, FACE aims to ensure students receive relevant, up
to date, accurate and balanced information.
FACE is based at the Royal Agricultural Society of England's headquarters in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, who are one of a number of its partners.
