Agri-Food Careers Event

This week we were delighted to be a sponsor for the new Agri-Food Careers Event which was organised by the LAS Education team at the Lincolnshire Showground. The Epic Centre and EXO centre provided the ideal location, with plenty of space for the 30 exhibitors and for over 700 students to disperse around the stands. The event was all about inspiring and encouraging the next generation to take an interest in the food and farming sectors and opening their eyes to some of the possibilities for future careers: especially important in a county like Lincolnshire where so much of our fresh produce is grown and so many of our staple foods are produced.

We chose to showcase potatoes on our stand – looking at how well they measure up against other veg in terms of nutrients. Getting hands-on with the ‘feely boxes’ never fails to pique interest – with kids of all ages – and it’s a great way to get a discussion going about different foods. Our activity was based around  emphasising the point that you need a mix of different foods in your diet to get a good range of vitamins and minerals and that potatoes are an important part of a healthy balanced diet.

With the age range from 13 – 18 it wasn’t surprising that there were differences in levels of understanding of healthy eating and nutrition. And it was interesting to see the range of levels of familiarity with different vegetables. Many of the students were unfamiliar with swede (a staple of Lincolnshire fresh produce) and even parsnips (“those white carrot things”) which for us really emphasises the need for better education around food and the importance of events like this one.