Farmers heading to York classroom to connect children with food production

Paul Tompkins and Richard Tesseyman will be at St Barnabas Primary School on Friday 29 January to mark national Farmhouse Breakfast Week.

During the half day event, they will introduce around 60 children to a real dairy calf and will teach them what cows eat.

Pupils will been given the chance to try milking Annabelle the wooden cow and will make their own butter. They will also learn about how farmers grow wheat for bread and have a go at grinding their own flour, before meeting Hetty the Hen to find out how many eggs she lays and how these eggs are then individually measured and graded into small, medium and large.

At the end of the session the children will sample some scrambled egg on toast.

Lucinda Douglas, county adviser at the National Farmers’ Union which has organised the event jointly with farming education charity FACE (Farming and Countryside Education), said: “National research regularly highlights how little children often know about their food, so it really is very important to show them where it comes from and how it is produced – as well as emphasising the need to eat a range of different foods for a healthy, balanced diet.

“Farmhouse Breakfast Week gives local farmers a great opportunity to leave their farm for a few hours and head into the classroom. Over the years their sessions have proved very popular with children and I’m sure Monday will be no exception.”

Farmhouse Breakfast Week takes place from 24-30 January. Organised on behalf of arable farmers who grow crops such as wheat, barley and oats, the purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast and demonstrate the wealth of breakfast produce available around the country.