Pupils from across 25 schools in West Lothian, participated in a unique event designed to introduce them to the variety of food-associated careers and industries within Scotland.
The SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) Oatridge campus’ BaxterStorey catering team were on hand to talk to the children about the role and responsibilities of a hospitality provider, including the training and development available through its award-winning training academies.
The pupils were given a taster of the industry career choices available to them in the next few years.
Organised by Scotland’s Rural College, Developing the Young Workforce's (DYW) West Lothian regional group and Lantra Scotland, it was a day of learning and understanding about career development opportunities and the farm to fork food chain journey.
Held at SRUC’s Oatridge campus in West Lothian, pupils took part in interactive workshops run by employers across food development, horticulture and hospitality industries including BaxterStorey, Dawnfresh, Quality Meat Scotland and MacDonald Hotels; giving the pupils a taster of the industry career choices available to them in the next few years.
The Oatridge BaxterStorey catering team were on hand to talk to the children about the role and responsibilities of a hospitality provider, including the training and development available through its award-winning training academies.
Gemma Lilgert, BaxterStorey Catering Manager at SRUC Oatridge, said, “It was fantastic to be involved and it was a big team effort providing breakfast, lunch and refreshments to event attendees, as well as running a stall at the event.
“It was really rewarding being able to talk to the next generation of potential hospitality stars and to share with them how rewarding a career in this industry can be. We also had fun with the children, asking them to guess the names of unusual vegetables, which they loved. We had some great answers – some children thought purple potatoes were stones.”
Learning resources manager at SRUC, Des Martin said, “The Farm to Fork event was an outstanding success. Local schoolchildren learned more about the many different industries involved in producing the food we eat. It was great to see so many youngsters inspired by the range of interactive activities and a huge thank you goes to everyone involved.”