PROVACUNO, INTEROVIC, and the Mercamadrid Central Meat Market have successfully concluded another edition of the Meat Detectives educational activity. This initiative, year after year, allows schoolchildren to learn about the value of livestock farming and the meat production process in a fun, rigorous, and enriching way.
Since October, nearly 1,500 children in third and fifth grade from the Community of Madrid have toured the Central Meat Market, accompanied by specialized instructors, to discover firsthand the different professions and stages of the beef, lamb, and goat meat value chain.
For more than two hours, the children became true “detectives,” playing games like Paths and Ladders, Find the Picture, and Self-Definition, and learned important lessons about:
The origin of food and the connection between farmland and table.
The human value of livestock, industrial, and commercial work.
The importance of animal protein for their development and health.
The quality, safety, and traceability of the meat we consume.
The sector’s role in the sustainability of rural areas.
One of the key lessons learned was understanding that meat is a unique source of essential amino acids, which are essential for healthy growth, energy, and cognitive development. They also became aware of the value of food and the need to prevent its waste.
The directors of PROVACUNO, Javier López, and INTEROVIC, Tomás Rodríguez, highlighted the importance of this activity in bringing the youngest children closer to the reality of the countryside and livestock farming, in an environment where many schoolchildren come from urban areas completely disconnected from the rural environment.
“Seeing how the children get involved, ask questions, and discover everything that lies behind beef and lamb is, without a doubt, one of the greatest satisfactions of this initiative,” says Rodríguez.
At ANAFRIC, we welcome these types of initiatives that help instill respect, knowledge, and awareness about the essential role of the livestock and meat sector in our society.
