Farming Talk: Lesson in food as pupils pay a visit to farm

School pupils have been helped by a top-rated chef to whip up tasty dishes using vegetables straight from the fields at a Shropshire farm.

The classroom went to the farmyard when children from Elston Hall Primary School, in Wolverhampton, met farmer Mark Lea and executive chef Idris Caldora.

The event was organised by farming education charity, FACE, with support from the Academy of Culinary Arts and the NFU.

DL and ML Lea Ltd, at Greenacres Farm, Kemberton, is an organic mixed arable and livestock farm that also incorporates a green waste composting business.

Mr Lea gave the pupils a tour of the business, showed them his pedigree herd of Hereford cattle and introduced them to his chickens, sheep and lambs.

The youngsters cooked up minestrone using five ingredients from the farm's polytunnels including leeks, shallots and spinach and also made fruit tarts, thanks to produce sponsored by Waitrose.

The Academy of Culinary Arts, whose patron is Prince Charles and president is celebrity chef Brian Turner, is the country's main professional association of head chefs, pastry chefs, restaurant managers and suppliers.

Members include Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc and other leading names from the culinary world. The visit to Greenacres was part of the academy's Chefs Adopt a School programme which aims to teach children about the pleasures of eating, the provenance of ingredients and the processes by which raw materials are transformed.

FACE co-ordinator Brian Hainsworth, of Oswestry, said afterwards it was obvious children could get engaged with this type of learning experience and it could help to deliver elements of the curriculum.

After the children enjoyed the lunch they had helped to prepare they heard more about the livestock on the farm and were given the opportunity to bottle-feed cade lambs, animals left by their mothers. Elston Hall teacher Amy Brown said the whole experience had been an amazing opportunity and they had enjoyed a wonderful day out.

Oliver Cartwright, West Midlands NFU