Date: 09 April 2021
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) in partnership with Bank of Ireland Virtual Farm Weekend (BOIVFW) and Asda, are challenging school pupils across Northern Ireland (NI) to “Dig in!” and put their creative skills to the test in celebration of the tenth event.
Launching today, the annual schools’ competition is open to all playgroups, nursery, primary, and special schools in NI. This year’s theme is celebrating ten years of Open Farm Weekend and the UFU’s food and farming education resource “Dig in!”, which encourages pupils to learn more about food, farming, and the countryside.
UFU deputy president, David Brown said, “This is a very special year for Virtual Farm Weekend. We are delighted to be celebrating ten successful years of this initiative, highlighting daily life on working farms with a particular focus on those from non-farming backgrounds, illustrating the farm to fork story and helping to cultivate an understanding of quality farming practices. The schools’ competition utilises the UFU and Agri Aware’s “Dig in!” resource which encourages school children to think about the origin of food and the importance of farming and local food production in NI.
“The schools competition offers an opportunity for teachers and parents to start the discussion in their homes and classrooms about the importance of food and farming in NI. This encouragement is vital to support children to learn more about how farmers work hard to produce the delicious, healthy food on our tables, and the many ways we look after the countryside which everyone enjoys.”
The quality and creativity of the pupil’s entries never fail to impress the judges and due to the high number of entries received, the UFU is differentiating its younger age groups with specific categories. “We are delighted to add an additional category to the schools competition this year. Playgroup, nursery and pre-school pupils will be able to showcase their artistic flare. I encourage all schools, parents, guardians and teachers to participate in what is a very worthwhile competition and can be a fun, interactive family activity during the current circumstances,” said Mr Brown.
The UFU is pleased to welcome Asda on board again as sponsor for another year with a range of prizes available for the lucky schools competition winners.
Joe McDonald, Asda NI corporate affairs manager said, “Asda is a proud sponsor of the schools’ competition and is delighted to sponsor an additional category this year for playgroup, pre-school and nursery school pupils. As a committed supporter of Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector, it is important to Asda to create an awareness of where our produce comes from. This competition is a great opportunity to do just that and to educate children on the ‘farm to fork’ story.”
Schools do not need to be competition winners in order to take advantage of the opportunity to learn about working farms.
David Brown added, “This free virtual event showcases NI’s world-class ‘farm to fork’ journey and provides school children, and their families with an opportunity to see where their food is produced. BOIVFW steering group are working extremely hard on a virtual event which will be taking place on Friday 30 July to Sunday 1 August 2021.”
Entry forms have been sent electronically to playgroup, nursery, primary and special schools. The closing date for entries is Friday 21 May 2021. Schools competition templates are available by visiting www.ufuni.org (news tab) and www.openfarmweekend.com. For more information contact Lynsay Hawkes at UFU HQ on 028 9037 0222 or lhawkes@ufuhq.com.
