‘Milking It’ explores the big question of why so many farmers are struggling across the world, whether they are in more or less economically developed countries. It is a delight to give an award to a website that sheds light on people’s lives as farmers. The site covers the dilemmas that face farmers at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the development issues associated with trade and attempts to understand how global trade affects the food we eat.

Young people meet two real farming families who describe what they do and the daily dilemmas they face. There are original sources with simple and extended text which makes it both accessible and challenging at the same time. The glossary supports learning key words.

There are some very lively interactive modelling exercises that enable young people to ‘role play’ at being the farmer, which add delight to the website, while reinforcing learning. It shows how hard it is to make a living in Wales and in Jamaica. The Caribbean in general is an under-represented region in the secondary curriculum and this site therefore fills a gap. The horseshoe-shaped table allows pupils to make the link to global scale.

Geographical Association