Agriculture’s role and importance in everyday life will be tackled in classrooms across the country with the return of the NFU’s Why Farming Matters teaching packs.
The packs, which have been produced in conjunction with the education charity Farming and Countryside Education (FACE), were initially launched in 2007 by former NFU director of Communications Anthony Gibson and NFU communications spokesman Guy Smith and proved to be extremely popular.
They cover both primary and secondary education and include booklets containing a series of activities for children at Key Stages Two and Three on a wide range of farming topics, as well as three sets of picture cards and a DVD containing interviews with farmers about their lives and work.
NFU President Peter Kendall has put the packs into practice with a lesson at a Warwickshire primary school and talks about farming in an assembly.
Kendall said: “The packs were hugely successful when they were originally launched and we have continued to receive regular requests for them which shows they are a much needed and much valued resource for teachers. We are delighted that we’ve been able to produce them again and are grateful to our sponsors for their support.
“With food security becoming an increasingly important global issue it is vitally important that school children understand where the food they eat comes from and the role farming plays in their everyday lives.
“These packs help explain agriculture in a way that is positive, balanced and easy to understand and make it relevant to today’s curriculum.”
Bill Graham, executive director of FACE, said: “The packs have proved to be very popular and have been instrumental in helping reconnect young people with the origins of their food. They are a fantastic resource, full of activities and ideas for learning about food, the environment and wildlife, and I’m sure will be in great demand from teachers again.”
The original print run of 15,000 packs were quickly used up by teachers. Since then more than 1,000 electronic versions of the packs have been downloaded from the FACE website.
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