Over 1,000 school children from across Pembrokeshire, aged from five to 16, attended the BBQ ‘Food Story / Stori Bwyd’ event, held by the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society recently to celebrate Welsh Farming Week.

During the event arable, dairy, beef, pig, sheep, poultry and turkey farmers, from all over the county, volunteered their time to talk to the children and demonstrate local food production. They explained to the children where their food comes from, how they farm sustainably and how to care for the countryside.

The event was held on the Pembrokeshire County Showground where there was farm machinery and live animals for the local school children to see first-hand what is used to produce their food. The children also got the opportunity to cook and eat their own kebabs with the assistance of chefs from Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales and Castell Howell.

Kathy Wilson, a former teacher and now an Honorary Pembrokeshire Show Governor, organised the event on behalf of the Society’s Food Story / Stori Bwyd. She said, “I would like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of the volunteers who took two days out from their busy work on the farm to come and talk to the children and demonstrate how they produce food and drink. The smiles on the faces of the children said it all, they listened intently, took part in the demonstrations and the teachers took resources back with them to their schools to continue the learning. One of the important elements of Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society’s work is educational and spreading the word around the county about how local food is produced by farmers.”

As well as food production, the event was an opportunity to teach the children about the seasonality of what farmers produce locally and how the weather and climate affects the work farmers do as well as the different food groups and healthy eating. 

Pupils from 32 schools and colleges took up the opportunity to attend the event. These ranged from progression step 1 up to BTEC in Agriculture students.

Thank you to Castell Howell, Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales, CLA Wales and the NFU Mutual in Pembrokeshire for their financial support. Thanks also to NFU Cymru, the FUW, Wynnstay, CCF and Lantra for providing educational resources for the schools and pupils.