Farming groups have urged Defra to pay farmers to engage children and the wider public on their farms as part of the new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS).
The statement has been signed by ten food, farming and educational organisations, including Sustain and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).
They say that in the face of a multitude of environmental and social crises, young people should get the chance to experience the connections between food, farming and environmental systems.
Supporting public access was identified as a key ‘public good’ in the Agriculture Act 2020, meaning farmers should be entitled to financial assistance if they engage the public on their farms.
However, if these payments are not made accessible to all farmers via the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), the groups fear that trips to farms from schools in urban areas could be severely limited.
Defra would effectively be closing the door on hundreds of thousands of children who would benefit the most from trips to farms and the countryside, place-based learning, accessing clean air and beautiful environments.
Nina Bell from the Country Trust, a group which signed the statement, said: “It’s vital that every child gets to discover first-hand the connections between the food they eat, their own health and the health of the planet.
"The land, countryside, farming and food production should be something everyone can access.”
Jyoti Fernandes from the Landworkers’ Alliance added: “Increasing public awareness and understanding of the connections between food, farming and the environment is absolutely crucial.
"School visits and open days have the potential to inspire a whole new generation of conscious farmers and growers, and will do a far better job at winning their hearts and minds than any advertising campaign could hope to inspire.
"Government needs to recognise the value that engaging kids on farms has in building a better food and farming system and inspiring a new generation."
