Impact of educating children about farming revealed

A new report has highlighted the extensive work being done to educate young people and possible future farmers about the farm-to-fork journey.

Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf) Education is working to deliver meaningful learning opportunities for schoolchildren to embed a better understanding of the food and farming industry, the report shows.

See also: How farmers are helping to educate school children about agriculture

The agri-education’s latest Impact Report, published on 20 February, reveals that Leaf Education reached 733,530 young people in 2023 through its on-farm, online and in-class activities.

Last year, 296,280 young people engaged in activities downloaded from Countryside Classroom and 260,360 young people took part in #FarmingFortnight.

Leaf Classroom organised visits on farm or virtual farm visits in the classroom for 38,032 young people, totalling 42,370 hours.

Some 2,500 teenagers also got involved in research and 1,471 teachers were supported in their Continued Professional Development accreditation.

Meanwhile, 609 farmers were trained to teach young people about farming, totalling 3,032 hours.

Royal approval

In a foreword to the Impact Report, HRH Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, writes: “In the past year alone, I have seen countless times how direct, hands-on farm experiences can transform someone’s thinking, and give us all a much deeper understanding of the relationship between food production and planetary health.

“Leaf Education’s goal is to raise young people’s aspirations, to champion exciting career opportunities available in the food sector, and ensure we are all better informed as a society about how our personal food choices can make a difference to sustainability and climate change.”