Applications are open to people who want to develop their career in the food or red meat industry with interests in red meat, food production, agriculture, food marketing, marketing and sales, research and development, food processing, cooking and food technology.
As part of the process each applicant was asked to explain their big idea for the sector and this week Farmers Weekly publishes their responses.
Combine meat and veg
Chloe Hannah Judges Choice
Educate the next generation. This will be aimed at young adults, primarily high school students are probably the best target. It will focus on the sustainability and ethical standards of farming and industry. Many people are misinformed about farming in New Zealand so it is particularly important to focus on urban schools where students might not have ever visited a farm or even know how one works.
These students will be the next generation of potential red meat consumers so it is important they understand the basics of the red meat industry. Being a city school kid myself I don’t remember learning anything about farming at school and it wasn’t until my parents moved to a small lifestyle block in my later years of high school that I realised there was a whole other world out there.
My proposed method of educating these students is a field day. It could follow the whole pasture to plate timeline so the students could start the day with a field trip to a farm or have a video presentation outlining the basics of producing red meat. The day could end with a small cooking class where students have a go at preparing a red meat dish so they’re also learning about the nutritional values of red meat at the same time.
I think the field day should be informative but should definitely remain fun. There should be opportunities for the students to be hands-on and they should feel like they can ask heaps of questions and not feel intimidated when they do so. Most importantly, the students should leave the field day with a positive and basic understanding of the red meat industry.
Combining education of the read meat industry with the urban population is the first step in creating more ambassadors for the consumption of red meat and it might also help in the fight against plant-based protein. I think red meat industry education will not only better inform people but it might also introduce the farming world to the next generation of students who will bring with them a whole new realm of ideas for NZ’s red meat industry. And how great would that be? Bloody great.
