Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote agriculture in the (1) primary, and (2) secondary, school curriculum; and how much funding they have allocated for this purpose since 2007.

There are opportunities within the geography and science curriculum to teach about farming, although farming does not feature as a stand alone topic in the national curriculum. The national curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the freedom and flexibility to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish.

In geography, schools must teach pupils to describe and understand key aspects of human geography, including types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. This could include teaching about the role of farming in producing food.

At secondary, pupils are taught to understand how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate, which could include teaching about farming.

Both the Geographical Association and Royal Geographical Society have resources available for teachers which explain the importance of farming, including resources linked to farm visits, farming practice in other countries, the importance of soil, and many other topics.

As part of the Design and Technology curriculum for 5 to 14 year olds, cooking and nutrition education is compulsory in state maintained schools. Schools are required to teach pupils where food comes from, understand source and seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and good nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that helps children to feed themselves and others healthy and affordable food.

In Key Stage 4 biology, pupils are taught the importance of selective breeding of plants and animals in agriculture.