Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/06/2013
12:00 am

….Goat, milk, beef, apple and mushroom production goes public this weekend!

Recent research has thrown the spotlight onto our growing ignorance of food production and food provenance with a survey from The British Nutrition Foundation revealing last week that one third of primary school pupils think cheese is made from plants and 1 in 10 believing fish fingers were made from chickens or pigs. The Ulster Farmers’ Union are urging parents to help their children reconnect with food and food production through their innovative Open Farm Weekend initiative which takes places this weekend and today created a one-off “pop-up farm” at Gilnahirk Primary School in East Belfast to raise awareness of the initiative.

Open Farm Weekend (OFW) is a free event which aims to help people appreciate how their food is produced and the significant role which our farming community plays in the food chain.

Last year’s ‘pilot’ event attracted almost 6000 visitors and this year the event is bigger and better than ever with a total of 19 real, working farms opening their gates to the public. Together they will give the public access to a full range of farming experiences, from traditional dairy farming in Ballymoney, and apple/cider production in Armagh, to mushroom growing in The Moy and goat-meat production on Divis Mountain.

One of this year’s returning farms is Laurel View farm, near Ballyclare, which is run by  Robert and Linda Davis, who visited Gilnahirk Primary School this week with Open Farm Weekend’s “Pop-Up Farm” to help the children better understand the realities of food and farming in the 21st century:

“Farming is such an important part of our economy, and it is also at the heart of our local communities, yet people really don’t seem understand the significance of farming today,” said Robert. “We’re really looking forward to being part of OFW, opening our gates and welcoming the public to see our livestock and to get a flavour of life on a real, working farm. We hope it will help improve understanding of what we do and how the efforts of the farming community ensures we all have a steady supply of good food.”

Adding his support and encouraging all ages to make the most of the opportunity to sample farming life, Barclay Bell, Deputy President of the UFU added:

“Open Farm Weekend is a great day out but the message behind OFW is a serious one – it has never been more important to highlight the links between farming, food and rural life as there is a lot of work, time and very high standards involved in the ‘gate to plate’ process. We hope everyone gets behind this great initiative, has a really enjoyable on-farm experience, but also learns a little more about the realities of farming life.”

The full list of participating farms and their opening times are available on www.openfarmweekend.com

Open Farm Weekend is a project by Ulster Farmers’ Union and is supported by Business in the Community NI, on behalf of The Prince’s Countryside Fund and The Department of Agriculture’s  NI Regional Food Programme and is sponsored by Bank of Ireland UK and NFU Mutual.

Check www.openfarmweekend.com for opening times and what’s on offer at each of the participating farms or add Open Farm Weekend on Facebook or on Twitter @NIopenfarm