17 Apr The original ‘field’ trip?

Earlier this week I participated in a call on the role of technology in Food systems – from origination to ingestion. Fascinating!

Discussion turned to the fact that with borders closed for Covid-19 many farmers cannot access the migrant workers who would normally help harvest the various crops. This is causing the carefully designed pick-pack-ship schedule for our produce to spoil mid-transport as various points in the journey are coming under delay.

It launched a discussion on alternate ways (manual & technical) to get the produce picked.

The original ‘field’ trip?

There is incredible diversity in my class. I was surprised to learn that when they were young many participants had great memories of schools trips where they helped out/learned on the farms. Some did their stint on local Ontario dairy farms. Others helped with crop harvests. As a result, many of them learned to appreciate fresh produce.

It was experiential learning at its best, as most of these seniors are now handling the current covid crisis with confidence as they plant their own little gardens.

I guess that was what passed for a ‘field’ trip?

I am obviously not asking Google the right questions!

Can you provide me with any information on this topic? Did your school field trips include visits to help out local farmers?

And I would love to learn your thoughts on:

• When did this education practice stop?
• Should we re-embrace this version of field trip to re-establish the link for students from farm-to-table?
• Is there a connection between understanding the tight correlation between the food eco-systems and the economy, and our ability to move forward productively on climate action?
• Can we use this practice for the 2020 harvest season while migration might still curtail the vast numbers of migrant workers we would normally be reliant on?
• If we have abnormally high un-employment due to the Covid crisis, is this work that can help our local economies redress that balance, and help out the farm-table food delivery?

Too many questions!

And not enough answers.

As I researched, I came across this interesting reading:   one dating back to 1937.

• This article inspired after reading this Guardian article: British workers reject fruit-picking jobs as Romanians are flown in
• Study of the origin and development educational excursion. HA Woods. 1937  PDF download. Really interesting. Did you know the Youth Hostel system in Germany began with school trips?
• My class is part of the Academy for Lifelong Learning Toronto (allto.ca). This class is the effect of technology on society. But membership and access to the 40 workshops is now open if you are interested in joining. I am regularly surrounded by a wealth of experience, history, intelligence and creativity. Some participants were toddlers during the Second World War. Toronto’s cultural and intellectual diversity is in the room. Many fellow classmates have helped build the legal, educational, engineering and financial infrastructure in Canada.