WHO else has noticed the rise in ‘ignorant city dwellers’ perception of animal protein farming?

Many of us – including myself – have had to listen to some of the ‘University Crowd’ sprout off about the indecency of farming animals for food.

That same group telling us that vegetarian/vegan is the way to go and the environment must come first – all while wearing leather shoes and carrying leather handbags! I can only wonder how many of them have leather seats in their comfy cars.

It is truly criminal that the propaganda pedalled by some animal rights groups can be unjustly and inaccurately absorbed by an ignorant and disconnected group – many of whom look to Google for their justification and proof.

Well, here is a news flash – any farm worth its salt is indeed nurturing the soil and the environment, to ensure future generations of farmers can feed our growing population.

I am extremely concerned that a large portion of this younger generation has completely lost touch with where their food comes from, and the ethics of running a sustainable farming operation.

Farming is a business and, like all businesses, we need to be profitable to go forward.

While farming is a gamble, with so many variables playing a part in the market prices received, poor stock will always make less money. Currently the producer is paying for the disposal of skins when selling direct – try and make sense/cents of that!

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) have released educational resources for 2023, covering key aspects of the red meat and livestock industry.

The in-depth Australian Good Meat Education resources developed by MLA for the 2023 school year cover all grades from Foundation/Prep to year 10.

MLA Group Stakeholder Collaboration Manager, Samantha Jamieson, said that the resources are linked to the current version 8.4 and the new version 9.0 of the curriculum.

“These resources are free and easy to access on the Australian Good Meat website and are designed to be used in both print and digital format,” Ms Jamieson said.

The cross-curriculum resources are designed to meet curriculum outcomes for Design and Technologies, Science, Mathematics, English, and Humanities and Social Sciences. Sustainability is a large focus across the resources to support this as a focus area in the Australian curriculum. In all, there are 178 new resources available for teachers.

Ms Jamieson said the education resources were designed to be interactive and engaging for students, being created in consultation with teachers to ensure the materials were practical and resulted in the best possible outcomes for students.

“By accessing the teaching resources on the Good Meat website, teachers will find resources such as instructional videos for teaching support, lesson plans, student activity worksheets, and supplementary classroom materials such as posters and more,” Ms Jamieson said.

Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) CEO, Luciano Mesiti, said there was huge value in bringing agriculture into the classroom.

“PIEFA is excited to have worked with MLA on these resources. It’s great to be able to help provide these resources for teachers, and we encourage teachers all around the country to visit the website and make these resources work for them and their students.

“Agriculture is innovative and evolving and full of exciting opportunities around maths, sciences, technology, and much more,” Mr Mesiti said.

Hopefully this balanced approach to the education of our young (particularly those in more populated areas) can correct any misconceptions, and improve people’s perceptions of the farming industry.

In the mean-time – I will take my scotch fillet, medium rare – thanks.