Why Strutt & Parker is supporting FaceTime a Farmer

Strutt & Parker, as part of the BNP Paribas Group, has agreed a two-year sponsorship deal with LEAF Education to help develop the FaceTime a Farmer initiative.

We are delighted to be supporting a project which helps to engage schoolchildren with the farming industry’s role in delivering safe, affordable supplies of food and looking after the natural environment.

It’s a brilliant idea, pioneered by Cambridgeshire farmer Tom Martin, to use Facetime or Skype to dial in to schools each week, allowing farmers to talk about what they do and why, direct from the field.

Farmers have always been great at adopting new technology for their businesses and this is a fantastic example of them embracing digital technology to help promote what we as an industry collectively do.

It is an easy way for kids to see how things change from season to season and ask questions about how crops are grown and animals are looked after. It gives them an insight into what an exciting and high-tech sector the modern farming industry is.

There has never been a more important time to explain to the public about all the good work that farmers do. Many host visits, but this is a way of reaching children who might not get a chance to see a farm at first hand.

Background

The FaceTime a Farmer project was piloted in 2017 and involves farmers being paired with schools to deliver regular FaceTime/Skype sessions with schoolchildren, to bring about a better understanding of the role that farming and food production play in all our lives.

It paired over 70 farms and schools in its first full year and now the plan is get more teachers and farmers signed up.

LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) is an expanding charity that promotes sustainable food and farming. A core part of LEAF’s work is focused on inspiring and educating future generations about farming, food and the countryside.

Strutt & Parker is part of BNP Paribas Real Estate, one of the BNP Paribas Group’s ten UK business divisions that collectively employ more than 9,300 people based in 21 core locations across the UK.

For more details about how to get involved with FaceTime a Farmer visit LEAF Education’s website.