Woolworths has gone digital with its popular Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours, with a new look to the education program set to provide more opportunities for Regional students to learn where their fresh food comes from.
Years 5 and 6 primary school students across Regional NSW can now be the first to experience the digital program.
Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour was the first national program of its kind when it began in 2018, and to date more than 260,000 Australian school and early learning centre students have participated in the in-store experience.
Now with a top to bottom redesign of the program, Regional students will now be able to use immersive AR and VR activities to take a virtual tour of a Woolworths store, as well as get closer to the farm, to help educate and inspire conversation about fresh fruit and vegetables.
Designed in collaboration with educators, food scientists and nutritionists, the program also allows Regional students the ability to virtually step onto an Australian farm to learn how fresh food is grown and meet some of the farmers who supply fruit and vegetable to their Woolworths stores.
The redesign comes as new Woolworths research shows that less than half of the children in NSW and ACT surveyed aged 6-14 could correctly identify a leek, apricot or a beetroot1.It also highlighted a lack of understanding on where fresh food originates with many kids having never visited a crop farm.
Woolworths Bathurst and Woolworths Bathurst City Centre Group Manager, Angela Nicholls said: As Today’s Fresh Food People, we’re committed to helping Bathurst families make healthier and easier decisions when it comes to their lifestyles.
A big way we can do that is by educating younger Aussies about where food comes from, the food production process, Aussie suppliers and growers, and the need to support a sustainable future. Our new Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour achieves all this using technology to create a fun learning experience.
Taking the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours online also enables teachers to bring the curriculum virtually to life, even if students are learning from home. Regional students can discover the importance of how their fresh food makes it into local stores, and helps them build a healthier relationship with fruits and vegetables.
Luciano Mesiti, CEO of Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) which supports teachers with Australian curriculum-led food and fibre teaching resources, said:It is so important that Aussie students learn about the primary industries that support the fresh food that is produced. Having a program like this offers teachers high quality, real-world resources which provide context for students so that they can not only understand the positive impact of agriculture, but also build other skills including maths, science and technologies that drive sustainable solutions.
South Australian Tomato grower, Naresh Singh is featured in the new digital program and said: I’m thrilled to be involved in the reimagined Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour and that Regional students can virtually step onto our farms to learn about how fresh fruit and veggies grow. Knowing Aussie kids can learn more about how tomatoes like ours end up in Woolworths stores nationwide is extremely rewarding.
Teachers from schools in locations where home based learning programs are underway can also alter the program to suit their existing online programs.
Similar to the in-store Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours’s book a tour program, Regional schools interested in participating in the new digital program can request a free classroom kit that contains all the materials and lesson plans required, along with access to a supporting Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours app.
The roll out of the new digital program will start with years 5 and 6 and be available to Kindergarten to Year 4 from early 2022.
To find out more about Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Digital Discovery Tour program and how to request a classroom kit, visit www.woolworths.com.au/discoverytours.
