A new £1.3 million development of Tatton Park Farm is being launched next Wednesday, 4th July.
The innovative new ‘Field to Fork’ story aims to inspire visitors, young and old, by telling the story of the journey of our food – from the field to the fork.
A recent survey of 5,000 school children found that 14% of 5-to-7-year-olds think that bacon comes from cows, sheep or chickens, and 13% of 8-to-11-year-olds think that pasta comes from an animal.
In its heyday Tatton Park Farm helped feed the whole of the Tatton Estate and it is hoped that the Field to Fork narrative will help reconnect families with the origins of the food they eat by bringing to life this fascinating heritage.
Carole Mullineux, Tatton’s business development manager said: “Field to Fork is a groundbreaking project – there’s nothing quite like it anywhere else.
“There are a lot of animal petting farms in the UK but nowhere that children can get the full experience of a working farm and how food makes a journey – from a field being ploughed, to seeds being sown, crops being grown and then harvested to process into animal feed to produce healthy animals for meat.”
Carole added: “People are losing touch with where their food comes from and our aim is to provide this information in a sensitive and thought-provoking way.”
A visit to Tatton Park Farm will feature the original slaughter house, open to the public for the first time, where soundscapes and visual special effects will help people to understand how slaughter was carried out in the past – comparing practices from the 1940s with animal husbandry today.
Other new hands-on activities include the opportunity to walk the pigs out to the fields and hold newly-hatched chicks in the hatchery.
Visitors will be help 1940s characters such as Aunt Mary churn butter in the caretakers cottage, be interviewed for a job by Mr Wiglesworth the land agent, or go on a tour of the impressive 18th century mill with working machinery and interactive displays.
Visitors will also be able to take part in traditional agricultural skills such as horse ploughing, cheese-making and beekeeping and learn about the history and care of all the rare breed animals (including Middle White pigs, Clydesdale horses and Leicester Longwool sheep).
There will be a range of exciting, new educational opportunities as well.
Food and nutrition is now a compulsory curriculum subject up to Key Stage 3 and school children will have the opportunity to collect food from the fields, process it and cook with it in the new bespoke-built cookery barn.
Older pupils will see STEM subjects brought to life by conducting experiments and solving problems using interactive models and machinery on site.
Laura Armitage, Tatton Park’s learning and visitor services manager said: “The ability to understand where food comes from and consequently make informed decisions about diet and lifestyle is an essential part of pastoral education and we are one of very few sites to explore this in any detail.”
