A government minister helped children learn about the origin of their favourite foods during an event aiming to sow seeds of understanding about the farming industry.

Eastern Daily Press: Defra secretary Elizabeth Truss visited St Martin at Shouldham Primary School near Downham Market during a day of activities aiming to put food and farming on the curriculum. Tim Scrivener Photographer 07850 303986Defra secretary Elizabeth Truss visited St Martin at Shouldham Primary School near Downham Market during a day of activities aiming to put food and farming on the curriculum. Tim Scrivener Photographer 07850 303986 (Image: Tim Scrivener)

Environment secretary Elizabeth Truss was in her South West Norfolk constituency to visit St Martin at Shouldham Primary School near Downham Market.

The school is incorporating food and farming into its curriculum, using education packs, entitled Why Farming Matters, developed by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and FACE (Farming And Countryside Education).

All 230 pupils took part in a range of activities designed to improve their knowledge of how food is produced, from creating a farming collage to looking at future energy needs and finding out about the crops grown in Norfolk.

They also had the chance to hear from Norfolk farmers Ed Lankfer and Ben Hipperson, who took a tractor into the school and spoke to the children about the farming year.

Eastern Daily Press: Defra secretary Elizabeth Truss visited St Martin at Shouldham Primary School near Downham Market during a day of activities aiming to put food and farming on the curriculum. ©Tim Scrivener Photographer 07850 303986Defra secretary Elizabeth Truss visited St Martin at Shouldham Primary School near Downham Market during a day of activities aiming to put food and farming on the curriculum. ©Tim Scrivener Photographer 07850 303986 (Image: ©Tim Scrivener)

Ms Truss said: 'I want to see children more connected with where their food comes from, farming and nature. These packs are a great resource and it's wonderful to see them being used in the classroom today.'

NFU vice president and FACE trustee Guy Smith, who will chair the Norfolk Farming Conference next month, said: 'As a farmer I find it incredibly humbling that schoolchildren from non-farming backgrounds have a natural curiosity about what farmers do.

'The purpose of these education packs is to harness that curiosity with positive farming stories and images so we can help teachers deliver their curriculum needs.

'We've worked hard with FACE to ensure the packs provide interactive, balanced and accurate information about our industry that can be used across the curriculum, from art and design lessons to science studies.'

Headteacher Katherine Stephenson said: 'It's so important that children have an understanding about food, farming and the natural environment and can start forming their own opinions about the issues involved.

'By the end of today every pupil will have spent some time finding out about food and farming. We hope to build on this by arranging visits to local farms later in the spring so pupils can discover more about what goes on beyond the farm gate.'

The Why Farming Matters packs are available for free online at www.whyfarmingmatters.co.uk. The website also includes supplementary lesson ideas and teaching materials.