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Celebrity chef backs farm-based food classroom

Martin Heath & Helen Mulroy
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Getty Images Raymond Blanc at the Pub In The Park Marlow Charity Gala 2025 at Higginson Park in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, on 16 May. He has short grey hair and stubble on his chin and is wearing glasses. He is smiling at the camera. He is wearing a white chef's coat while stood in a professional kitchen.Getty Images
French chef Raymond Blanc said he was a champion of sustainable food

A woman's new classroom at her working farm has received the backing of a celebrity chef.

The Countryside Kitchen in Yelvertoft, Northamptonshire, is being opened up to schools, community groups and businesses, and aims to show people how food gets to the table and how healthy meals are made.

It was officially opened on Tuesday and is being run by not-for-profit social enterprise No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents, set up by farming influencer Milly Fyfe.

French chef Raymond Blanc said in a statement he would "wholeheartedly support this project's mission" having been "someone who has championed sustainable British food and farming for years".

Martin Heath/BBC Stuart Andrew with short white hair, wearing a dark blue suit and light blue tie. Milly Fyfe has long blonde hair and is wearing a green apron over a blue T-shirt. She has her hands outstretched while talking. They are standing outside a single-storey wooden classroom with doors open revealing a table inside.Martin Heath/BBC
MP Stuart Andrew opened The Countryside Kitchen with its owner Milly Fyfe on Tuesday

The classroom was opened by Stuart Andrew, the Conservative MP for Daventry, and it has 50 schools lined up ready to use it.

It was made possible through money from the National Lottery and Royal Society of Chemistry, along with crowdfunding and corporate donations.

Martin Heath/BBC A woman with long blonde hair wearing a blue T-shirt is kneeling next to a bucket of soil with three children in yellow hi-vis vests. Two are wearing red caps and one has a white cap. There is a green growing tunnel behind them. Martin Heath/BBC
Schools will be able to visit the classroom and look around the farm in Northamptonshire

Ms Fyfe, who multi-tasks as a farmer, PR and marketing consultant, blogger, podcaster and writer, said she came up with the classroom idea during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: "I set up No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents, which was an online blog and social media platform to help document life on the farm and people really found it fascinating, because they had no idea what food grew in this country.

"The feedback was that they'd like to come to the farm and immerse themselves in the farm."

Ms Fyfe said she did not know of a classroom on a working farm, so decided to create one.

Martin Heath/BBC The interior of the classroom showing pictures on walls, a TV screen and a table, on which various objects are placed.Martin Heath/BBC
The classroom is at the heart of the farm, based near Rugby
Martin Heath/BBC A wooden single-storey classroom painted in cream with white-framed windows. There are steps leading to a platform in front of the classroom. A person wearing a purple top is walking down the steps on to the grass below.Martin Heath/BBC
The classroom has been created in a park home at the farm

She hoped that people would take part in hands-on learning, to understand where food comes from and learn how to prepare nutritious meals from scratch.

Mr Andrew said: "I think it's fantastic.

"Milly Fyfe is a real tour-de-force and she has a real passion for farming, for the rural way of life, and what she's doing here is bringing it all together.

"It's a real opportunity for children to understand where food comes from, which is so important when food security is such an issue."

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