When a celebrity chef butchers a pig carcass you are going to take notice, but Colin Fassnidge had a message he wanted to get across to agricultural educators: show children where their food comes from.
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Mr Fassnidge was a keynote speaker at the 2018 National Association of Agricultural Educators conference in Launceston on Monday.
He has been working in kitchens around the world for almost 30 years and is an advocate for the Pigs in Schools program.
Sydney students benefit from Mr Fassnidge’s commitment to food education through his regular visits to schools to speak about tasting, identifying sweet and sour and how food is produced.
In a session designed to show teachers how the paddock to plate concept can be embraced in the school cooking curriculum, Mr Fassnidge butchered the pork carcass on stage, showing his audience the various cuts and explaining how to cook them.
“The whole pig is very confronting, but I don’t think people give kids enough credit. I think it’s more the adults are confronted by the whole pig, because the kids get over it pretty quickly,” Mr Fassnidge said.
“The kids are very interested to see where it comes from, and they’re a lot more open-minded than the adults. The adults are used to going to the supermarket and buying a bag of meat. Kids are a lot more responsive than the adults,” he said.
Primary Industries minister Jeremy Rockliff opened the event earlier in the day, explaining how important agriculture was to the state.
“Tasmania is extremely well placed globally to leverage off our competitive strengths in agriculture. We have natural advantages, such as rich soil, a favourable climate, abundant water, enterprising farmers and a premium brand,” he said.
Agricultural study through the Primary Schools to Primary Industries initiative provides an understanding of primary industries and the science behind food and fibre production.
“Access to agricultural education, and school farms in particular, provide important hands-on learning for students and critical pathways to employment. We have established centres of agricultural excellence and provided significant funding for school-based agricultural projects,” Mr Rockliff said.
The conference continues until Thursday at The Tramsheds Function Centre, Invesresk.