Written by Rachel Martin
A new group proposed for Argyll and Bute aims to inform and engage with schoolchildren about food and farming.
Farmers, crofters, landowners, teachers, early years providers and anyone involved in agriculture or the land use sector are invited to an open meeting to discuss taking the idea forward.
Argyll and Bute is currently the only part of Scotland without a similar group.
Across the rest of Scotland, the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) has strived to bring the working countryside and its practices to life for young people.
The aim of the meeting is to expand the existing RHET network of 12 countryside initiatives across Scotland to include Argyll and Bute.
Working with volunteers directly involved with farming, RHET provides children with the opportunity to visit working farms and hear first-hand how their food is produced and how the countryside is managed.
Where farm visits aren’t possible, RHET uses volunteers to visit the classroom, as well as providing a range of teaching resources.
RHET board chairman, George Lawrie, and RHET education manager Katrina Barclay are among those due to speak at the meeting to give an overview of the work of RHET.
Lawrie said: “It has never been more important to encourage young people to learn more about where their food comes from and get a better understanding of the countryside around them.
By getting involved in the work that RHET delivers – whether it is through volunteering to host a class of pupils on your farm or become a classroom speaker – you will help send out the positive message about modern Scottish farming and the role we play in the environment around us.
“We have a great network of trained contractors who support both the teachers and the farmers to ensure everyone gets the most from the activity, including producing a risk assessment and props to take into schools.”
Argyll and the Islands regional chairman John Dickson, who farms on Bute is also among those behind the formation of a RHET Argyll group.
He said: “RHET has done a fantastic job in other parts of the country, engaging and informing schoolchildren of all ages about the journey that food takes from farm to fork and the role farmers play in looking after our countryside.
Currently, Argyll and Bute is the only part of Scotland that does not have a local RHET group.
“With the help of farmers and crofters, and others involved in the land use sector, we now have an opportunity to change that and make sure that the fantastic story we have about the unique way we farm in these parts reaches the next generation of consumers.
“I would urge those with an interest in being involved to come along to the meeting in Inveraray and help us.”
The meeting will take place in the Inveraray Inn on Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30pm.
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