“Where does our food come from?”

WHERE does our food come from? That was the question a group of school children asked market traders at Warrington.
The youngsters from St Barnabas CE Primary visited the market as part of a project to learn about food.
They were keen to learn more about retailing and spoke to many stallholders about their businesses, touring the market and some even sweetening the traders enough to get a free taste of their food and some demonstrations.
Butchers John Cross and Sons explained how they can prove they know where their meat comes from and is of good quality. Over at Sweeney’s, they were given a demonstration on how to make burgers – even including mincing the meat to make the burgers with.
Andrew’s Fish, Game and Poultry showed the different types of mussels, prawns and fish they had, both whole and gutted. Reardon’s showed them how parts of squids used to be used as quills and explained their own family history – four successive generations of fishmongers on the market.
Cllr Mike Hannon, deputy leader of Warrington Borough Council, said: “It’s an exciting time right now for the market and it’s great to see younger generations taking an interest in retail and business. I hear some of the children said they wanted to stay longer and some even
saying they wanted to work in the market when they grow up. It’s clear that traders at the market are passionate about what they do and are proud of their trades.”
Louise Wass, deputy head at the school, said “As part of our new curriculum we are finding out about the journey our food takes,
including the choices we make about shopping for food. The children were really impressed with the knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm of the traders and thoroughly enjoyed choosing, buying and eating some healthy snacks, including beans on toast, bananas, coconut and even dressed crab!”