New Member Alert - Kiah Gourley

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Kiah Gourley, a sophomore majoring in Animal Science here at K-State.

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 Hi, I am Kiah Gourley.  I am from Philomath, Oregon.  I grew up raising pigs and showing livestock in 4-H.  I am excited to be in Food For Thought because it gives me a chance to learn how to talk to the consumer about where our food comes from. I want to get involved so I can hear from very inspirational people, and fellow peers on how to present agriculture in a positive way. I would love the opportunity to take these ideas back to the west coast, and put them into action.

New Member Alert - Alex Moran

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Alex Moran, a first year student at the College of Veterinary Medicine here at K-State.

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Hi guys! My name is Alex Moran and I’m a first year veterinary medical student here at Kansas State University.  I’m originally from Hays, Kansas and have spent the past three years as an undergrad at K-State studying animal science.  After I’m done with what seems like a ridiculous about of schooling, I want to own a mixed animal practice in Kansas (even though cats and dogs are my true loves).  The past few years, I’ve been very involved with my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and working for K-State’s New Student Services.  Other than that I really love spending time with the people I love, country music, a good book, rain, Kansas, and most importantly my cat, Bear.  I do not have an extensive agriculture background, other than growing up in Western Kansas and a farming brother-in-law.  I do, however, know just how vital agriculture is to each and every person in the world.   I am excited to grow in my knowledge this year in Food for Thought and I look forward to sharing that experience with all of you throughout the year :)

New Member Alert -- Nicole Born

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Nicole Born, a student at the College of Veterinary Medicine here at K-State.

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I am Nicole Born.  I’m originally from a small family farm located just northeast of Topeka, KS where we raise Polled Hereford cattle and dairy and meat goats.  I have a BS in Agriculture from K-State and I’m currently a sophomore in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  Those that knew me in undergrad would know me as Nicole Rosencutter, but I got married to Jonathan Born, another College of Ag grad, in July 2011.  I am very excited to get involved with Food For Thought!  Agriculture has been, is, and will always be my passion.  I have always been involved in the agricultural industry through our family farm and staying involved in many ag activities throughout undergrad and vet school.  A few years ago, I had the opportunity for training through the National Beef Ambassador program with Trent Loos.  At that event, he had us practice “grace under fire”, rapid questioning regarding the agriculture industry.  Since that time, I have had an even stronger passion for being an advocate for agriculture and I’ve had the opportunity to inform others about the industry through various activities and within my vet school class.  After graduating, I plan to practice in a mixed animal practice in a rural community, probably around Lebo, KS, where my husband’s family farm is located.  I am so excited to get involved with this group to strengthen my knowledge of current events in agriculture, further practice my communication skills, and spread the word about this amazing industry on our campus and beyond!

New Technology Brings Pigs and People Together

    Would you be interested in a video game that is played between real people and their counterparts in the pig world? How could this work, you might wonder? Well, thanks to collaborative research between the Utrecht School of the Arts and animal scientists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the  Playing with Pigs  project has become a reality in the form of a video game called PigChase.

PigChase is designed as a way to bring humans and pigs closer together, as it involves a human playing on an iPad or iPhone video tablet interacting with live pigs in their home environment. It will be much easier to understand if you check out the video.

Researchers have set up a large touch-screen system inside a pen where young pigs are housed. Research has shown that pigs are attracted by moving light and based on this principle, a game was created where humans use their fingers to drag a ball of light with their finger and try to match it up with the pigs' snouts on the other side of the screen.

This is an exciting idea that I must say needs to be applauded for it creativity. In animal science we often discuss the need to bring food animals and consumers closer together, and what better way to do so than by keeping both pigs and people entertained at the same time?

For those of you interested in getting the game PigChase, keep your eyes peeled for its release!

Enjoy,