A triumphant return for the Aylsham Show!
We were proud to be a part of this year’s Aylsham Show, which returned on 29th August at Blickling Park. Over 15,000 visitors attended this year’s event, which was a brilliant celebration of rural life and a chance to showcase food and farming in Norfolk. The traditional one-day agricultural show is a popular event for local families and the Food, Farming and Countryside Zone was full of exciting activities for visitors to take part in!
Within the FFDT mobile classroom, visitors had the chance to take part in our Food Mile Mission. Food miles is the term used to describe the distance food is transported from where it’s grown/produced to our plates. The effect of food miles is measured by the amount of CO2 emissions that are produced in the journey; this is usually measured per tonne of food per kilometre. The food sector accounts for up to 30% of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
We started by talking about seasonality. Using the pegboard, visitors were asked to sort some UK produce into the season you would traditionally expect to harvest it in. After this, visitors were asked to sort the produce into things that can be grown or produced in Norfolk and things that need to be grown or produced elsewhere. Many visitors were surprised at just how much food we are able to produce here in Norfolk.
There was also a game of higher or lower to take part in, with visitors guessing the food miles of common foods and sorting them in order of distance. Many were shocked to learn that 76% of apples consumed in England are imported into the UK, with many coming from as far as New Zealand, which is around 11000 miles from Norfolk!
Finally for older visitors there was the chance to work out the food miles for an English Breakfast, armed with what they already learnt about local produce. You can find out more about Food Miles here through our Conscious Consumers Resources.
We also collected some wonderful visual feedback from visitors about what they had seen or learnt on their day at the Aylsham Show and were delighted to see such brilliant drawings from our younger visitors.
A huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped with both the preparation and the running of the workshops and to the Aylsham Show for having us! The Aylsham Show will return on 28th August 2023.
