The characters in the Farmer Joe and Friends stories have been inspired by, and are an adaptation
of, the life of the Ronan family who operate
a bed and breakfast on their farm in Springbank in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia.
On one of her travels to Australia, Jesmane had a farm-stay at the Ronan family farm and was captivated by farming life and her warm welcome from the Ronan family. This was her very first experience of farming life.
It is ironic that her love and passion for country life and farming was sparked
by this and subsequent visits to the Ronan farm, even though her initial introduction to farming was through her corporate involvement
with agricultural institutions. Also view the video interview below...
The vision of Farmer Joe and Friends is to educate children about farming and the environment in a way that is fun, entertaining, and easy to understand. Farmer Joe and Friends uses various media to bring general knowledge about farming and the environment back to life for children - this includes publishing fictional, educational children's books that are fully illustrated in colour.
Global trends indicate that key challenges relate to water, land, and the environment, and we need to ensure that our kids are educated in order to deal effectively with these challenges and minimise them. Children are increasingly being raised in cities and are therefore less exposed to farming than they used to be. Modern children lack basic knowledge about primary food production. For example, many children do not know that milk comes from a cow or that bread comes from wheat!
Farmer Joe and Friends hopes to give children exposure to, and an awareness of, agriculture and environmental sustainability. For those children who become really passionate about Farmer Joe and Friends, the seeds might be planted for later career options in these fields.
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