Food – a fact of life returns to the classroom
Now children are back at schools, we’re reminding schools and farmers that they can access our free education resources from our Food – a fact of life website.
Originally set up by the British Nutrition Foundation over 30 years ago, and with AHDB strengthening the programme four years ago, Food – a fact of life now offers over 2,000 free education resources to teachers of students between three and 16 years of age.
This collaboration combines the nutrition expertise of the British Nutrition Foundation with AHDB’s farming expertise to provide evidence-based resources and training to teaching professionals across the UK.
Last year, as a result of using resources from Food – a fact of life, 85 per cent of pupils in the UK were more informed about where food comes from, and 88 per cent of pupils were more informed about healthy eating.
Forming part of our strategy to protect and promote the reputation of British agriculture, we have a focus on developing accurate and up to date education resources with the aim of reaching and informing consumers of the future.
In 2021 alone, resources which include activity packs, quizzes, lesson plans, presentations and work sheets were downloaded 1.3 million times.
Overall, almost 1,000 educators attended events, workshops, and webinars last year, covering topics such as cheese making and butchery, with 80 per cent using the training to update their own lesson plans.
Regional conferences will be held this year offering teacher training to build confidence in delivering classes on food and farming.
Focusing on providing life skills in nutrition and healthy eating, practical cooking skills and knowledge about where food comes from, the programme meets all UK national curricula and alleviates some of the increasing time and budget pressures faced by educators.
More recently we’ve also begun to showcase different job roles and opportunities that are available within the food and farming industry to ignite and encourage passion for the sectors and highlight the vast array of career opportunities within the industry.
To access all the information and materials visit https://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/ or listen to our podcast ‘Educating consumers of the future’ on the AHDB Food and Farming podcast channel.
Roz Reynolds is head of education at AHDB
