The Rural Voice, 2005-05, Page 45IS
AgriTech
Learning through interaction
In the interactive section, beginning of each month since the
participants are encouraged to enter inception of the site in August of
the "Pig Headed Debate", write an 2003. For this month — "What do
editorial or take an adventure. I chose you think farmers care about most?".
to take an adventure to test the kid- There are four options offered. Why
friendliness. not weigh in. For teachers, the
After waiting two to three minutes. "Submit an Editorial" looks like a
for the game to download, the actual great learning tool
playing only took a couple of min- Going back to the home page, 1
utes. By answering a few questions, clicked on the photo and video library
the player's choices ultimately lead to which leads to the OFAC site and a
very different outcomes for the very good selection of photos
success or failure of their virtual intended for personal use.
farm. It was good for a smile. Farmissues.com is a good site that
Three contentious subjects are is easy to maneuver through. This site
posted for debate in the "Pig Headed" was created through a partnership of
section, but I was disappointed to see the Ontario Farm Animal Council,
so little action of late on these Ontario Pork, Ontario Turkey
message boards. If you don't want to Producers, Ontario Cattlemen's
talk about food safety, pesticides or Association, Ontario Egg Producers,
the treatment of farm animals, launch Ontario Veal, Ontario Chicken, Dairy
your own debate and see just what Farmers of Ontario, AGCare, Ontario
opinions are out there. Certainly there Institute of Agrologists, Agriculture
are a lot of sides to the issues facing and Agri -Food Canada and the
the farm industry these days. Agricultural Adaptation Council.
Visitors are invited to take part in Contact me at jlbecker@wightman.ca
a survey and can go back to look at or through The Rural Voice office,
the survey questions posed at the with feedback or topic suggestions.0
Janice
Becker is a
computer
enthusiast
and
journalist
living near
Walton, ON.
For me, listening to the radio is an
almost constant in my daily living.
The radio is on all day at my place of
employment; it takes me to work in
the morning and brings me home at
night. Even as I sit in my car, enjoy-
ing my lunch on a cool spring day,
the radio serenades, educates and
informs.
This continuous sound, I must
admit is often relegated to the
background and that which might be
useful slips by unnoticed. However,
recently, my subconscious must have
been paying attention. When I heard
of a website named farmissues.com,
my awareness returned.
Supported by a broad range of
agricultural organizations, the site is
billed as a gateway to farming and
food information with options to play
games, ask questions, offer opinions,
and obtain answers from "experts".
In the "Agricultural and Food"
section geared to students and
teachers, visitors are orally
introduced to the options.
Surfers can check out facts on
animal care, the environment, food
safety and food biotechnology. Each
also includes a list of resources for
further research. The lists are ext-
ensive and offer govemmental, ind-
ustry, and non-agricultural resources.
Direct links to the websites makes the
search for material very easy.
Specific sectors of the industry can
also be studied, including beef cattle.
dairy cattle, sheep, goats, pigs,
poultry, fruits and vegetables, veal
calves, turkeys and field crops as well
as farming in general.
Aside from facts and figures and a
little trivia on each sector, photos and
video snippets can be viewed. Media
personnel may enquire about
purchasing more extensive videos
segments.
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MAY 2005 41