The Lakes Free Range Egg Company (The Lakes) went back to school yesterday, to help primary school pupils gain a better understanding of how the eggs they use for ‘Pancake Day’ are produced and packed. The children were also given recipe ideas to create some inventive fillings for their pancakes.
The Lakes team are regular visitors to Beaconside Church of England Primary School in Penrith, because they help bring learning to life. A current overarching school topics this term, focus on “You are what you eat”. Year 2 Teacher Miss Sarah Kendall, felt was a perfect opportunity for an interactive session with Year 1 and Year 2 pupils – especially in the run up to Shrove Tuesday.
You are what you eat
Miss Kendall said “It’s very important that children understand where their food comes from – it’s part of the national curriculum. The Lakes team brought with them a range of different eggs to look at and showed us some fantastic videos of the egg production process . Everything from hens ranging under trees, to the eggs being graded and packed in the factory. We were all mesmerised by the sheer volume of eggs produced and packed just down the road and were fascinated to hear how a hen ‘learns’ how to lay an egg.”
Mark Gaskin, Managing Director of The Lakes Free Range Egg Company explained that it takes time for a hen to perfect the art of laying an egg; Mark brought along a variety of oddly formed and mis-shaped eggs in varying sizes and also highlighted that it is at this stage that ‘double yolk eggs’ can be created.
Showing video’s allowed the pupils to escape the classroom and venture onto a hen range, where they could see hens foraging under trees. This bird’s eye view of life as a free range hen made a great impression – as did seeing robots packing eggs in the factory.
Educating the public on free range
Helen Brass, co-owner of The Lakes Free Range Egg Company said “Visiting schools is a very important part of what we try to achieve in terms of educating the public about free range production and how we farm in a sustainable way.
“For Pancake Day we created a recipe leaflet that uses leftovers for fillings – it’s just a simple and tasty way to encourage people to reduce food waste. Around 100 pupils went home with a new idea for making pancakes.”
At the end of the presentations ‘The Lakes’ team polled the pupils to find out which was their favourite way to eat eggs in the morning. More than 60% said scrambled eggs were their favourites. A number of children said they had not tried eggs for breakfast, so Miss Kendall is arranging a scrambled egg cookery morning next week and The Lakes team are supplying the eggs.
The Lakes Free Range Egg Company visits several primary schools each year and hosts factory visits for secondary schools and colleges. To find out more call us on 01768 890 460