Encouraging kids to use their loaf

Two of the country’s leading farming education trusts hope to raise awareness of what goes into the country’s daily bread, with the pandemic highlighting the need for children to understand where food comes from.

Encouraging children to use their loaf, the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) and the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative (RNCI) have revealed that there has been strong interest in an initiative which offers free samples of wheat to primary schools across Scotland.

The scheme gives young people the opportunity to follow the journey from wheat seed to a loaf, by following the various stages involved in turning the wheat into bread - and allowing pupils to both make and eat their own loaf in school.

With the 150 loaves barrier now passed, Sheila Bannerman RHET Dunbartonshire, Lomond and Renfrewshire, who is co-ordinating the programme said that demand for the seeds was still going strong.

“The uptake from schools for this project has been amazing and it shows that schools are keen to engage and teach their young people where their food comes from and how it reaches their plate,” said Bannerman.

Alison Johnston RNCI project manager, added that it was important every pupil should have the opportunity to learn where their food came from and take part in the ‘hands-on’ element of the project.

Schools can claim their packet of seeds by visiting the teacher’s area on the RHET website www. rhet.org.uk/seeds where there are also a selection of resources and online videos to support learning.