7 May 2024. Tanya Nagle, AgForce General Manager Media and Community Engagement.
With the urban rural divide increasing in the digital age, it has arguably never been more important for the agriculture sector to proactively engage with the next generation through schools.
It's a vital step to bridge that gap of understanding into the future.
This week at BEEF24, the AgForce School to Industry Partnership Program (otherwise known as SIPP) has scheduled 4000 primary and high school students on tours throughout the BEEF site, allowing them a rare opportunity of hands-on face to face engagement with the agriculture sector.
It's a crucial opportunity for us to tell our story to the next generation about where their food and fibre comes from, the importance of agriculture to Australia and the huge diversity of careers available beyond the farm gate.
Events such as these allow students to network with people in the agriculture industry, and to hear about a day in the life from people who know the lifestyle intimately and want to share why they love working in agriculture. After all - if you can't see it, you can't be it!
It's also an opportunity for teachers to gain knowledge about the agriculture industry so they build their confidence to include it as content in their classroom teachings. As part of this, schools were sent six weeks of curriculum-aligned teaching resources from MLA - Australia Good Meat Education.
There are great teaching resources such as these available, but the problem we face is that if teachers don't have the knowledge or confidence to use them - they won't. And that means children and teenagers don't know the breadth of options available to them.
Time availability in schools is also a problem, so we need to make it as easy as possible for teachers to engage. Providing more hands-on experiences such as these that are curriculum aligned and nurture connections between industry and schools is vital.
Otherwise, the disconnect between urban and rural life will widen, as will the chasm in understanding about our food and fibre come from.
The crux of this problem is multifaceted: an aging agricultural workforce, a burgeoning urban population, and an onslaught of misinformation about farming practices.
But through education, engagement, and most importantly experiential learning, it not only illuminates the path from paddock to plate but also sows the seeds for a more informed, connected, and sustainable future.
As we contemplate the future, the importance of such educational endeavours cannot be overstated-for in nurturing a child's connection to the land, we cultivate the guardians of our food security, environmental stewardship, and economic resilience for generations to come.
Thanks to the industry members who gave their time this week to engage with students - opportunities like these can't be missed nor their value overstated.
