Farmer teaches family about food

By Victoria Bartlett
BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight

The first time Mike and Serena have ever pulled up a potato!

Mike White and his daughter Serena from Southsea admit to eating fast food too often due to time pressures.

A survey by the Potato Council revealed Hampshire parents aged 25-45 are the lowest consumers of potatoes because the vegetable takes too long to cook.

A local farmer, Nick Baird, has been teaching the Whites more about where their fresh vegetables come from and what they can do with them at home.

Mike and Serena took a trip to Nick's 1,000 hectare farm to swap roles.

The swap also aimed to help Nick Baird build a better understanding of how he can develop produce that suit the lifestyles of young families.

Nick says: "I've got a young family myself - with three children under the age of four. My wife has a hectic life so I do understand it's tough providing nutritious meals when you're under pressure."

Serena is used to having meals from the microwave not potato fields

Stay-at-home father Mike and eight-year-old Serena visited the potato fields to learn all about what goes on behind-the-scenes of healthy food and how it gets to the shops.

Nick Baird, 32, works with his father, Basil, farming pigs, combinable crops and potatoes for Hampshire, Dorset and West Sussex - supplying all the major supermarkets, along with local farm shops and retailers.

Serena enjoyed the experience: "I liked digging up the potatoes - I got really dirty! I thought Nick was only going to show us round, but it was good to dig up what we were going to eat later on."

The White family were shown how the vegetables are then cleaned off, sized, packaged and stored.

After a morning on the farm, Mike wanted to know what Nick could cook up for his hungry daughter in less than 15 minutes - the time it usually takes to cook and serve a microwave pasta meal.

Serena says: "We have to rush most mealtimes because I have to go to Brownies or karate or music lessons."

Nick taught the family how to cook up a quick stir fry using his potatoes

Her father, Mike, is responsible for the cooking four nights a week, with his wife working long hours as the chief executive of a local hospice.

He says: "Half the time we end up having something that's quick and easy because I've got so little time, but also because Serena, eight, is really fussy and it's hard to get her to eat anything.

"She likes chocolate spread and toast and dislikes just about everything else! I'm hoping it's just a phase, because her elder sister, Naomi, 11, is getting much better with food now."

Nick rose to the challenge - serving a Mediterranean potato and chicken stir-fry: "I wanted to cook something that was colourful and tasty so that Serena would eat it - but also quick enough that Mike could whip it up himself.

"It was good to prove how flexible potatoes can be too - the cost and ease of cooking is comparable to noodles and pasta, which Mike and Serena didn't realise!"

"Getting families to eat fresh food is important - but people also need to support their local farmers - for the area's economy and to cut down on their carbon footprint by buying food from nearby.

Serena asked her Dad to make her this dish again - success!

Busy dad Mike says: "I really enjoyed my day on the farm and it was good to learn more about the process of getting fresh food and what you can do with it. I will try and do more healthy meals from now on - I think even I can cook baked potatoes for the family."

Serena adds: "I'd eat this again - hopefully Dad will get better at cooking now he has a lesson from Nick!"