More than half British children now believe that food comes from supermarkets, and have no clear idea exactly what a farm is or does.

Look mum - little Millie Baines inspects these fluffy chicks Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

It was a supermarket that set out to answer this question, when Tesco stores, in Prince Avenue, Southend, hosted an exhibition showing agriculture at work.

TV children's presenter Johnny Ball showed how wheat is turned into bread, oil-seed rape into cooking-oil, and - for the dads - barley into beer.

Annabelle, a working model of a cow, demonstrated how milk comes from animals, not cartons.

The travelling roadshow was mounted by the National Farmers' Union. Robert Bache, chairman of the Rochford branch of the NFU, said: "I think quite a lot of people walked away much wiser about farming."

Published Wednesday, May 21, 2003

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