You simply couldn’t make it up. So divorced have we become from what we eat that a survey of more than 1,100 children – west country children now, not inner city kids – showed than only 43% of them knew that ice cream is (allegedly) made from cream, and more than 1 in 4 unable to say what animal beefburgers are made from. Oh – and eggs come from sheep, and bacon comes from peacocks. But never mind.

You can read a summary of the survey here. It’s been conducted by the rural insurer Cornish Mutual in support of ‘Dig Down South West’, which intends to help create 50 new vegetable gardens in primary schools across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset to encourage children between the ages of five and eight to take an active interest in ‘growing their own’ produce. The aim of the campaign is to promote the value and benefits of children understanding the source of their food, nurturing their own produce and learning how to live a more sustainable life for the future.

It’s a start, although I personally think that every primary school should have a vegetable garden – too many are put off by so much of the produce ripening during the school holidays, but that’s nothing that can’t be got round by getting parents and childcare providers involved. If you know of a school that could benefit, take a look at the website – www.digdownsw.co.uk.