The Discovery Zone champions healthy eating and sustainability for 2023!
The hub for education at the Royal Norfolk Show, the Discovery Zone welcomed over 9500 young people across the two days! In collaboration with the Food and Farming Discovery Trust (FFDT), the Discovery Zone marries science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) with food, farming and the countryside to teach young people more about where their food comes from.
This year the theme was Norfolk Fruit and Veg and the Zone showcased the amazing variety of produce that can be grown locally, whilst explaining more about sustainability and nutrition. The Fruit and Veg Trail Trail allowed visitors to see how strawberries, raspberries and blackberries grow, with a polytunnel visitors could walk through, real bees in a box to show how pollinators are applied and even a parasitic wasp applicator to allow visitors to learn more about biocontrol and sustainable practices that local growers are using.
The trail demonstrated how salads are grown, with discussions about insect netting and even a working fly trap that monitors insect levels out in the field! Visitors also had the chance to see how root vegatbles like carrots and parsnips grow, learn more about common insect pests and appreciate the scale of farming with a tractor and carrot harvester on display that measured 20 meters long. Finally there was the chance for visitors to use some of the fruits they had seen on the trail to make their very own fruit kebab!
Did you know… across the two days of the show we made almost 5000 fruit kebabs!
None of this would have been possible without the brilliant individuals and organisations that supported us, so a big thank you to East Coast Growers, Place UK, Protech Future and Tompsett Growers.
As well as the Fruit and Veg Trail, there was lots more on offer in the Discovery Zone. The Norwich Science Festival marquee provided a lots of exciting activities to take part in, including building farm machinery models with East Norfolk Sixth Form College, learning more about vertical farming with the John Innes Centre and extracting DNA from strawberries with the Little Story Telling Co.
Thornage Hall is an independent charity located in north Norfolk that provides supported living, learning and working for adults with learning disabilities. Its 70-acre biodynamic farm is home to a herd of red poll cattle, alpacas and laying hens, while its market garden provides the local community with a wide range of fruit and vegetables. The team discussed fruit growing, the importance of healthy soils, the wildlife at Thornage Hall and even had a wormery on display.
The Papillon Project, a Norfolk-based educational charity that promotes sustainable living and environmental awareness for young people, allowed schools to learn more about school allotments and upcycling at this year’s Show. Joined by many of the schools that have taken part in their allotment programme, they chatted to students about growing their own produce sustainably and even gave visitors the opportunity to plant their own seed to take away.
Thank you to everyone that visited, volunteered or supported the Discovery Zone, we can’t wait to do it all again next year! The Royal Norfolk Show 2024 will be held on 26th and 27th June and tickets are availale to purchase here.