Farm and Rural Careers Day 12th July 2017

Hosted at Cotswold School in Bourton on the Water, this informative day educated students (and some teachers!) about food provenance and where it is produced locally. It also aimed to encourage pupils to consider future careers in agriculture or food production. We teamed up with Emma Harrison, who has three farms in Chipping Campden, to inform the students of the dairy process from farm to table. There was a great mix of ages from primary school level to year tens. We encouraged the students to participate in some butter making by simply shaking their bottle of double cream until the butter had formed. This received a great response from the students as many did not realise that was how butter was made.

In addition to this, we performed blind tasting with our free-range milk of whole, semi skimmed and skimmed. This was to teach the students about the taste difference and fat content. We also discussed the different breeds of cows, different types of dairy farms and that not all milk tastes the same!

Tanya Robins from the NFU felt the day was hugely beneficial, "Giving up a whole day from your businesses to support this event is hugely appreciated.  We were so lucky with the weather and the children and teachers appeared to love it. Some of the children brought their parents back at school pick up time so I hope they know more about their food produced locally and will consider careers in farming/food production/rural based professions. The school is very keen for us to do another event in 2 years time!"

Educating children at a young age is so important to help them understand where the food they eat comes from and how its produced.