ASK almost any child what their favourite food is and chips and crisps are likely to appear somewhere near the top of the list, but how many know, or even think about, where their tasty treats come from?

ASK almost any child what their favourite food is and chips and crisps are likely to appear somewhere near the top of the list, but how many know, or even think about, where their tasty treats come from?

In a bid to teach youngsters in Thetford the origins of their food, and to give them a chance to experience day-to-day life on a working farm, a number of schools visited the Elveden Estate.

More than 100 children raced around the fields and took time out with activities such as digging up potatoes, a visit to the grain store which houses Rye, wheat and barley, sheep herding and bee keeping.

Georgina Kerr, sales and marketing manager at the estate, which supplies produce to Walkers, McCain, McDonalds and Ryvita, said: “I don't think they really get the opportunity for this kind of thing, and for most of them it was their first time on a farm.

“The idea was for them to try to understand where their food comes from and when they eat their crisps or chips they know they're being dug out of the field. It's such a great opportunity for them and such a delight for us to see them involved.”

The school visit, on Thursday , was an initiative by the Country Trust, a national education charity, in a bid to offer youngsters from less privileged backgrounds the chance to see how their food is produced on a working farm. Pupils from Queensway Community Junior School, and Bishops CE Primary School from Thetford as well as Whitton primary from Ipswich all took part.

Linda de Bloeme, year 5 teacher from Queensway Junior School, who took 50 pupils, said: “They really enjoyed it and found it really fascinating, especially picking potatoes and playing about with the sheep and watching them herding.

“A few of them had never seen anything like it before and some of them were amazed the things you could make out of the crops. The experience of being outdoors and working on things together was also important and gives them a positive experience.”

The youngsters all wrote a report about their day out when they returned to school.