Tesco launched their Farm to Fork Trails in the UK in February this year to help children understand where their food comes from. Over 250,000 children have taken part in an educational trail since February at Tesco stores and at suppliers’ farms and factories across the UK.
Children in general are showing an increasing interest in wanting to learn where their food comes from.
The trails include practical demonstrations of where food comes from and how it is made at diverse locations such as egg farms, fishmongers, vegetable fields, dairy farms and Tesco supermarkets.
Greg Sage, community director for Tesco said, “We’re thrilled that so many children have now had the chance to take part in a Farm to Fork Trail. We have made real progress towards our goal of improving the relationship children have with their food and hopefully helping them go on to lead healthier lives.
“The response we’ve had from teachers, parents and the children themselves has been incredible and we’re looking forward to welcoming hundreds of thousands more children over the coming months.”
The trails are part of Tesco's Eat Happy project which aims to help primary school children develop a healthy relationship with food, by learning all about where it comes from, as it has been recognised that eating habits start early in childhood. Through the project, children can also take part in online field trips, which allow classes of primary school children to talk to food producers and suppliers around the world.
The Tesco Eat Happy Project is part of a wider ambition to help people live healthier lives. Billions of calories have been removed from Tesco food ranges, and Tesco will be the first major UK retailer to remove sweets and chocolate from checkouts by January 2015.
Earlier this week, Tesco and Diabetes UK announced an extension of their charity partnership - which has already raised over £12 million - until the end of the year. Tesco is hoping to raise a total of £18 million which will go towards diabetes research, promoting healthy eating in families and helping to make sure that children with Type 1 diabetes get the support they need in schools.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine by Nicole Gernon
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