How much energy does a greenhouse consume? What is the farmer's view of animal welfare? During class visits, farmers and horticulturists receive more and more of these questions. To support them, the Province of East Flanders started the project 'Boer(in): maat van het klimaat'. Farmers and horticulturalists learn how to initiate a conversation about societal issues with children and youngsters. "And that conversation is much needed," says Monique Vervaet of goat farm 't Eikenhof in Lokeren.
Monique: "Ninety per cent of the children and young people who visit us have a very classic image of the farm. An image from children's books, with a farmer keeping some cows, donkeys, chickens and pigs. Just yesterday, one of the children asked: where is your dog and cat? They do not see the farm as an economical entity, but as a cosy petting zoo. Even for the teachers, agriculture is unknown territory."
How has this distance between citizens and the agriculture and horticulture sector grown so much? "A hundred years ago, people went to the farmer for eggs and milk, but now they buy everything in the supermarket. Citizens are also no longer allowed to visit farms when they want, because the government has imposed strict hygiene regulations."
Goat farm 't Eikenhof does get frequent visitors. "We have a farm shop and we regularly have classes visiting us. This is enriching, especially for children who prefer to learn from experience rather than from textbooks. Leverage, short chain, profit and loss ... These are things that children often understand faster when they get to work with them in practice - on the farm."
Monique and her fellow farmers increasingly receive critical questions during class visits. "When our goats lamb, we take the male lambs to the slaughterhouse. After all, they don't produce milk. Children often take issue with that. But how do you talk about that aspect of farm-life in a child-friendly way? Many farmers have no idea."
Some East Flanders farmers and horticulturalists requested support from Caroline Ingelbert and Katrien Baetens of the Agriculture and Countryside Department of the Province of East Flanders. The question: how can you talk to children and young people about complex issues?
"The Province contacted Djapo, an organisation experienced in making societal issues discussable among children and young people. Djapo's educational officer Wendy organised several sessions with us. We discussed which methods and topics are interesting and feasible during a class visit. We also tried out some methods ourselves, so we experienced the impact of the methods."
Wendy, Djapo's educational officer: "The pressure on farmers and horticulturists is increasing. They get more and more questions about sustainability and climate. Also from pupils visiting farms. Farmers and horticulturists need tools to formulate comprehensible and structured answers to these questions. Our teaching methods are for them a reliable guide: a guideline to which they can attach their story and look at it from different perspectives and frameworks.
The end result is "Boer(in): maat van het klimaat!", a thematic farm visit for primary school classes. "The teaching methods we selected together with Djapo have been incorporated into a manual available to East Flanders farmers and horticulturists."
"The manual provides input for different types of conversations."
"Depending on the group visiting, farmers can choose a method and topic of their choice. For example, some teachers want to zoom in on the economic aspect of the farm. In that case you can discuss the difference between short and long chain. But you also might get questions about your impact on the environment. The manual provides input for different types of conversations."
So what can these conversations be about? "If pupils ask about our impact on the environment and the Flemish nitrogen agreement comes up, we can use one of the methods to get young people to think for themselves about why agriculture and horticulture emit so much nitrogen. In doing so, we talk about the difference between industrial agriculture and family farms. And we explain why even family farms have grown so much in recent decades. For example, many farms do need to grow or they will not get a loan from the bank. Moreover, farmers only get a small percentage of the money you pay in the supermarket for their products. That price also forces many farmers to grow, to produce more in order to earn enough."
"Together with the pupils, we map out the steps between the supermarket and the farmer."
With their farm shop, Monique and Peter consciously choose to enter the short chain, a sustainable marketing system where there is a direct relationship between producer and consumer. They also discuss their choice with students. "We recently had a class visiting us. They were all given a wallet with pennies with which they could buy something from our shop. Then we changed the scenario: what if you buy this product in the supermarket? Where does the money you pay go? Together we mapped out the different steps between the supermarket and the farmer. For each step, they have to set aside some money. For example, for the distributor or driver. That way they can understand how little of their money actually goes to the farmer. And then you can explain that farmers who choose for the long chain and want to earn enough money, often have to grow in order to survive. You expose the complexity and at the same time the absurdity of the system."
Education is an essential factor in stimulating global citizenship. However, it is not always easy to reach teachers from special education. That’s why in 2024 - with the support of the province of West Flanders - we started Buitengewone wereldburgers (Extraordinary global citizens): a pilot project in which we want to stimulate teachers of special primary education (focus: autism spectrum) in West Flanders to get started with Global Citizenship Education.
Teacher shortage, administrative burdens, demotivated students: teachers and school boards face a mountain of challenges. How can we take better care of the people who help our children and young people grow up? Read how the European LIFE project can provide an answer.