KS1: tell the story of sugar from field to table as part of a “Food and Farming” topic (PoS 4). The British Sugar website www.britishsugar.co.uk
gives information for creating relevant classroom resources.
KS2: use sugar as an example of interdependence (PoS 3g). Compare the location of the six British Sugar refineries, which use home-grown sugar beet and supply 60 per cent of the UK’s sugar, with the single Tate and Lyle refinery on the Thames at Silvertown, which uses imported cane and supplies the remainder of the market, as well as exporting to Europe (see www.tateandlyle.com).
KS3: develop a “web enquiry” to investigate sugar as an example of fair trade (PoS 6 i iii). Search for “sugar fair trade”. Include key questions such as, “What price do producers receive?”, “How is sugar traded?”, “Who are the winners and losers?”
GCSE and A-level: use sugar production as an example of agriculture’s impact on the environment. The British Sugar website provides an accessible start-point, although the other website quoted in this article should be searched as well. A quote from British Sugar provides an essay title: “A shining example of sustainability in industry.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? For teacher or A-level reference, detailed statistics of world sugar production and consumption can be found at www.fas.usda.govsugar_arc.html and a very good summary of sugar world trade issues can be found at http:cnas.tamu.edupublications1SugarWTO.pdf
