APPARENTLY, 90 per cent of children say they know which foods are healthy; a figure that’s reassuring. What is less reassuring is that more than half of children think (wrongly) that potatoes count towards their “five-a-day” fruit and veg total.

Reports by Consumer trends consultants, Future Foundation, and last year by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), show almost a third of primary school children think cheese comes from plants, and 18 per cent believe fish fingers are made from chicken.

In a bid to bridge this worrying knowledge gap, suppliers across the country are opening their farms and factories to teach children about the origin of food.

The Tesco Farm to Fork trails will help children learn how, for example, milk is produced, where eggs come from and how lettuce grows. In addition, staff at more than 700 Tesco stores across the UK will be teaching children about foods and giving practical demonstrations, such as baking bread from scratch, tasting new fruits and vegetables and learning about fish and seafood.

Farm to Fork is backed by supporters, including Diabetes UK, the Children’s Food Trust and the National Farmers’ Union, and is open to every UK primary school.

Through Google’s Connected Classrooms technology, classes will also have the opportunity to talk to food suppliers across the world, banana growers in Costa Rica, for example, in live video chats, while Sorted Food, Europe’s largest social media cooking channel, will be engaging children with content that makes cooking fun and accessible.

It’s hoped this project will help primary school children learn about and have a healthier relationship with food – something that will be welcomed by their parents, half of whom fear the impact of their children’s diet on their long-term health.

Tesco UK managing director Chris Bush says: “We know parents are concerned that kids don’t always understand how food is made and where it comes from, which is important to developing a strong positive lifelong relationship with food.

“Working closely with teachers, our suppliers and a number of partners including the Children’s Food Trust, we want to help improve the relationship primary school kids have with food.”

LINDA CREGAN, CFT chief executive, says: “Improving the diets of our children should be a priority for all of us.

“Parents, schools, food retailers and manufacturers all have a responsibility to make sure our children are eating healthy, nutritious food. If our children grow up with an understanding and interest in both cooking and eating healthy food they have the best opportunity to reach their full potential.”

The Northern Echo:

Eleana Papadopoulou, a nutrition scientist at the BNF, re-iterates this will only be possible with an understanding of food origins. Referring back to the 2013 BNF research, where 21 per cent of primary school children had never visited a farm, and more than a third (34 per cent) of five to eight-year-olds thought pasta came from animals, she says: “Being better informed about where food comes from and how it’s produced and processed is important and could affect current eating habits and potentially the long-term health of children and young people.

We welcome initiatives that help to support this kind of learning.”

She also points out that it’s not only these initiatives that have a responsibility, though. All parents, and especially those whose children don’t have access to such schemes, can help their children learn more about healthy eating by involving them in decisions about family meals, taking them shopping to buy ingredients, and letting them help with food preparation and cooking.

“If possible, parents could also involve their children in gardening,”

she says. “It’s a way of helping them understand where fruit and vegetables come from and how they can be used to make their meals healthier.”

  • Schools can register for the Farm to Fork trails at tesco.com/eathappyproject . For more information on children’s healthy eating, cooking, food and farming, visit foodafactoflife.org.uk