George the Farmer and Simon Kain
Rabobank’s Rabo Community Fund has partnered with ‘George the Farmer’ again on ‘his’ mission to help educate children about where their food and fibre comes from in both a fun and educational way during this year’s National Book Week – August 19 to 26. The specialist agribusiness bank and George the Farmer – a fictional character featured in a series of educational resources – will be awarding 50 primary schools across Australia a George the Farmer book set for their school libraries. Rabobank client council manager, Yvette Loyson said George the Farmer’s down-to-earth manner and grassroots charm resonates “incredibly well” with young readers in rural locations while inspiring city-based children to have a better understanding and connection to farming. Ms Loyson said George the Farmer’s vision for a world where kids connect to the earth, food and farming aligns well with the Rabo Community Fund’s key theme of creating urban/rural connections.
“Rabobank partnered with George the Farmer last year to celebrate National Book Week for the first time, and we were overwhelmed with applications from schools across the country,” Ms Loyson commented. “It was exciting to see that level of interest from children and their teachers and librarians in learning about agriculture.”
Loyson said the George the Farmer book sets would contribute to increasing awareness of food and fibre production at schools, “potentially even sparking some children’s interest to pursue a career in agriculture”. Ms Loyson said the Book Week initiative is part of an ongoing partnership between the Rabo Community Fund and George the Farmer.
The George the Farmer story began in 2012 when founder Simone Kain was trawling the internet looking for farming books and apps for her farm-obsessed son George. Ms Kain said the toddler was desperate to be out with his dad on the farm and she wanted to find something to entertain and inspire him while he was indoors.
“I quickly discovered there wasn’t a human farming character globally who was telling sequential stories about life on the land for children, let alone a modern Aussie farmer telling real, relatable yarns,” Ms Kain commented “In 2014, George the Farmer was officially born, with the story quickly spilling outside storybooks and into new mediums. More than 100,000 Aussie kids from the big smoke and the bush have connected to the earth, food and farm through the adventures of George the Farmer, his agronomist wife Dr Ruby and their twin children Lucy and Jack.”
Ms Kain said the George the Farmer team, based in regional South Australia, produce “fabulous” picture storybooks, music, paddock-to-plate videos available to watch on YouTube and ABC TV, nationally-touring performances and free curriculum-aligned educator resources that educate and inspire kids to learn about where food comes from – along with how important agriculture is to our everyday lives.
“There are currently 13 George the Farmer books and counting, exploring a range of farming practices – from shearing, wheat and beef cattle to honey enterprises and robotic dairy operations. In each story, George the Farmer, Dr Ruby, Jack and Lucy pitch in to come up with solutions to challenges which mirror daily farming life – with plenty of fun moments as well,” Ms Kain commented “The myriad of George the Farmer resources are helping to educate and inspire the next generation – the future leaders, big thinkers, innovators, makers, fixers, creatives, teachers, policy makers and farmers. We receive many photos every year of excited kids dressing up as George and Ruby Farmer at their school Book Week parades. The Rabobank partnership champions agricultural literacy and will not only enable the education of many more kids, but inspire them to consider careers in agriculture.”
In 2021, the bank launched the Rabo Community Fund in Australia and New Zealand to invest in the sustainability and vitality of rural communities.
“As a cooperative, Rabobank has a rich history of community engagement and always looks to make an impact across the rural communities in which our clients live and work,” Ms Loyson commented “The Rabo Community Fund’s priorities are led by the bank’s farming clients, who are at the heart of their communities, supporting local initiatives with the aim of tangibly and meaningfully contributing to the vibrancy and resilience of rural Australia.”
Applications for the book sets are open from Wednesday, August 2, and close on Wednesday, August 16.