UP! - North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Year of Foodand FarmingAll across the North Wessex Downs, children can be found up totheir elbows in flour making bread, picking juicy apples in shadyorchards and watching in awe as they see farm animals for the veryfirst time. These activities are part of the nationwide initiative, theYear of Food and Farming, aimed at boosting children’s enthusiasmand appreciation of where their food comes from.TheYear of Food and Farming was launchedin September 2007, running to July 2008,to promote healthy living amongst children.The campaign aims to provide children with handsonexperience of farming, growing and cooking food.Memorable firsthand learning experiences are onthe menu in farms throughout the North WessexDowns. Rushall Organic Farm in Bradfield has beenhosting school visits since 1983 through the JohnSimonds Trust, an educational charity thatwelcomes around 8,000 children a year to the farmand other sites in the Pang valley.The aims andactivities of theYear of Food and Farming initiativefitted well with what they were doing already.Cliff Marriott, Education Officer for the JohnSimonds Trust, explains the effect these visits canMemorable firsthandlearning experiencesare on the menu infarms throughout theNorth Wessex Downshave on children: “Many of theschools that visit us come from urbanenvironments and it is not unusual tomeet children that have never seen asheep or cow. I’ve lost count of thenumber of children who think all cowsare black and white and are astonishedto find out ours aren’t.”As well as arranging visits to the farm,John Bishop, the farm manager, is aSEEDA farm champion for education andhas arranged visits to schools to deliver food andfarming workshops.To find farms and estates where children can gofor educational visits near your school, have a lookon the North Wessex Downs CountrysideEducation Network website (details below).It is not just farms that are opening their doors;local food producers are also offering similarclasses and workshops. The family-run OldFarmhouse Bakery in Steventon is working withlocal schools to teach children the art of breadmaking. Kate Bitmead, who runs the bakery withher husband and daughter, said: “The mostimportant element is that the children don’t justwatch us make bread – they make it themselves –and they love it! Hands-on experience is alwaysgoing to ignite children’s interest.”A vineyard may not seem an appropriate placefor children to spend time, but Paul Langham fromA’Beckett’s Vineyard near Devizes pointed out: “Wehave Wiltshire’s last commercial orchard and manychildren have never picked an apple before; a sadindictment on life today.”A’Beckett’s Vineyard runs school visits for localprimary schools and is open to schools organisingresearch projects and nature trails. The vineyard isAbove: Primary school children taking part in Fit2cookfood and farming workshopsBelow: A’Beckett’s Vineyard which runs school visits forlocal primary schools