Briar Chemicals launched its new initiative, the ‘Farm to Fork’ campaign, earlier this month by facilitating a trip for pupils from Mile Cross Primary School to a local farm.
Briar’s new ‘Farm to Fork’ campaign is being introduced into local schools to teach children about the lifecycle of crops and how Briar play a part in helping farmers maintain healthy crops and increase yields.
The campaign features three stages; fun and interactive experiments about how sunlight and water helps our food grow, farm visits to see where the crops grow followed by providing grow-your-own vegetable packages for the children to grow in the gardens at their school.
Tim Green, Site Manager at Briar Chemicals said: “Bringing science to life is the best way to create curiosity. Our aim is to educate young people about important topics including food production, nutrition, sustainability and how they can contribute.”
During the visit to Easton and Otley College farm, Mile Cross Primary pupils learnt how and what crops need to grow, about the machinery used and what each crop produces. The children enjoyed hands-on activities such as grinding wheat and crushing rape seed to produce oil.
Farm visits provide hands-on sensory experiences; learning where food comes from and the natural cycles from planting through to harvesting. Easton & Otley, an agricultural farming college, provide educational sessions for children up to KS4.
Ruth Cannon, Schools Technician at Easton & Otley College said: “We always enjoy hosting school visits at our Easton Campus. The visits enable school projects on food and farming to come to life. We would like to thank Briar Chemicals for their sponsorship of the Mile Cross Primary School visit.”
As part of the ‘Farm to Fork’ campaign, Briar also work with Mad Science, a local science educational organisation who provides science workshops aligned to STEM objectives and the curriculum.
Mile Cross Primary school pupils had a visit from Dr Dee Enay at Mad Science to help teach them about the importance of the sun in food production. They had the opportunity to take part in fun experiments learning about photosynthesis and prisms.
Briar’s Science in Schools programme, aimed at children aged 5-11 years old, is designed to make science learning fun, informative and capture imaginations.
Briar facilitate trips to other educational hubs across the region creating opportunities for children to learn about the environment around them.