New research carried out on behalf of Agri Aware has found that one in 10 Irish people have never visited a farm.
It also found that one in three Irish people have not visited a farm in the past five years.
For more than half (55%) the reason was simply that they never had the opportunity to go to a farm.
The research was released by Agri Aware in advance of its inaugural National Open Farm Day which will take place on bank holiday Monday, 7 May 2018.
This will be the first time in Ireland that farms from across the country will simultaneously open their gates to the public on one day to help educate consumers about what happens on a working farm and to encourage families to learn more about where our food comes from.
The research
The research was carried out by RED C among more than 1,000 respondents nationwide. Additional findings of the research include:
Commenting on the research, Agri Aware executive director Deirdre O’Shea said: “As we become an increasingly urbanised nation, many people are losing the connection between the activity carried out year-round by farmers all over our country and the food that they consume every day.
“Our research clearly shows that Irish people would welcome the opportunity to visit a working farm to learn more about how our food is produced.
“We are delighted to be able to facilitate this through our first National Open Farm Day.”
National Open Farm Day
The host farmers for National Open Farm Day include:
Each farm will host several activity zones on the day including a ‘meet the farmer’ zone, a cookery zone and a kids zone.
On the day, each of the farms will open their gates to the public from 11am – 4pm and each location will offer its own unique programme of activities.
For full details of the activity planned on each farm, along with directions, visit www.agriaware.ie.
My Farming Week: Padraic and Brid McMahon, Kilsallagh, Co Dublin
Farmers open their gates to the public for National Open Farm Day