NFU teaching packs aimed at reconnecting children with how their food is produced have gone to the top of the class after all 15,000 copies were snapped up by schools across the country.

Launched in July as part of the Year of Food and Farming, the Why Farming Matters teaching packs were created by the NFU and the Farming and Countryside Education group (FACE) to promote healthy living, show children where food comes from and why farming matters to their everyday lives.

To date, 10,000 packs have been requested and delivered to primary schools and 5,000 to secondary schools, and now they are available to download from NFU Online, with just a few hard copies remaining.

The packs include a series of National Curriculum-relevant activities based on farming topics for children at Key Stages Two and Three. They also feature a set of posters, three sets of picture cards, and a DVD containing interviews with farmers about the work they do.

Farmer Guy Smith, who led the project for the NFU, said: “Today’s children are tomorrow’s consumers and countryside visitors, so this project was an important step forward in explaining agriculture in a positive, balanced and curriculum-relevant manner.

“I would encourage all schools that haven’t already done so, to go online and order their free copy. We are confident these packs make a significant contribution to both the Year of Food and Farming and to education about farming generally.”