The Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Chemicals Research Institute has developed teaching materials, including a tabletop game and a picture book, to facilitate food and agricultural education.
Institute Director Hsu Tzu-hung (徐慈鴻) on Wednesday told a news conference that the ministry has long been developing food and agricultural education, as well as teaching agricultural workers to properly administer pesticides.
It created a picture book titled From Farm to Fork and a card game called An Adventure Through Fruits and Vegetables to incorporate food, agriculture and pesticide knowledge into leisure activities, with the aim of educating children and their family, she said.
Photo: CNA
Jian Sing Elementary School was chosen to promote food and agricultural education, as Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑) is the primary producer of green onions and carrots, and more than 53 percent of the school’s students have helped their parents in the fields, Hsu said.
“Although Yilan County is better known for producing green onions, Changhua is actually the largest green onion-producing area in Taiwan,” she said.
Technical Service Division head Yan Chen-feng (顏辰鳳) said the game guides players in tackling pests and diseases in fruits and vegetables by introducing natural enemies, or physical pest control or pesticides.
Players earn points by getting their agricultural products tested and obtaining Certified Agricultural Standards labels, she added.
Division assistant researcher Chan Chien-tso (詹健佐) said that challenges, such as overuse of pesticides, food safety myths, pesticide residue or unwashed lettuce were designed as “attack cards” and players had to resolve them using defensive cards with the right countermeasure.
To win the game, players must make edible fruits or vegetables by conducting health checks and through proper management, such as planting healthy seedlings or disinfecting the soil, he said.
“Such challenges could make the game more competitive while educating players,” Chan said.
Meanwhile, the picture book tells the story of fruits and vegetables from farm to fork, he said.
There are four chapters: visiting the farm, working in the fields, buying agricultural products in the market and preparing dinner, he said.
QR codes of resources, including biopesticides, diagnosis of plant pests and diseases, plant protection and consumer protection, are included to promote correct food and agricultural knowledge and practices, Chan said.
The goal is to cultivate in students a sense of belonging to the land and improve their awareness about pesticide safety, he said, adding that the students would need to understand the importance of food safety if they succeed their parents and become agricultural workers.
A sixth-grade student in a video cited what a lecturer taught her about food and agricultural education, saying that her family, most of whom are farmers, would search online about the proper way to spray pesticides to ensure food safety.
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