Fenland farmer goes back to school and calls for better education on food and farming

Arable farmer Luke Abblitt spoke to students at Abbey College, Ramsey, as an NFU Farmers for Schools Ambassador, a voluntary role which sees farmers give talks in schools across the country.

Mr Abblitt, who grows potatoes, sugar beet, wheat and barley at his farm near Ramsey, close to Peterborough, has been an NFU Farmers for Schools Ambassador for four years and has given talks to more than 2,000 schoolchildren in that time.

He said: “I was very excited when I saw my old school wanted to get involved.

“It brought back a lot of memories going back there.

“My old physics teacher, Mr Hodges, was still there. I don’t think he recognised me - he has taught a lot of students over the last 20 years, to be fair, and I have changed a fair bit in that time.”

Mr Abblitt is passionate about helping children to understand where their food comes from and he backs the NFU’s calls for the government to improve the quality of how food and farming is taught in schools.

Mr Abblitt believes that having people educated from a young age about the importance of supporting British farmers is vital for national food security.

With the curriculum under review for the first time in over a decade, the NFU is urging ministers to update subject content to better reflect the realities of modern farming and food production, particularly within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects such as the popular GCSE Biology award.

The NFU’s key asks of the government as it carries out its review are:

* An urgent review of GCSE Biology subject content and related subjects to better reflect food, farming and food security.

* A commitment to improving the quality of food education in all schools.

Mr Abblitt said: “I found at the start of my presentation, many of the children didn’t have any understanding about the work farmers do to produce their food.

“This is despite being in a rural area where children go past farms every day.

“In city schools, where there is less of an obvious link to the countryside, this lack of understanding about food and farming will be even more evident.

“Better education in the curriculum will help children go on to make healthy, informed food choices from a young age and open their eyes to the wide range of exciting career opportunities in farming.

“Farming urgently needs skilled professionals in science, engineering and environmental management and we need to plug that skills gap.”