Growing Agriculturally Savvy Consumers and Producers
We all have to eat and seventeen-year-old Carla Robertson is not only passionate about how her family’s business, Hoopers Creek Bee Company, plays a part in providing food, but also the urgent need to engage children in agriculture. “Young kids need to be in agriculture because they are the next generation. If they get involved in agriculture, they gain a respect for the work involved and know where their food comes from.”
Andy Von Canon, Western Region Agricultural Education Coordinator for Future Farmers of America (FFA), echoes her comments. “With less than 2% of the United States population actively engaged in the production of agricultural products and goods, there is a need to provide opportunities for youth to learn and gain understanding in this area.”
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it is estimated that global food production needs will increase 70% by 2050. To complicate matters, multiple studies and anecdotal data show that there is a lack of understanding among children as to where their food actually comes from.
In Western North Carolina area agencies work alongside parents, schools, and farms to help young people gain the understanding needed to be the agriculturally savvy consumers and producers that the next generations need.
Programs
4-H
4-H is one of the first to come to mind when thinking about agricultural education programs and there’s a reason for that. It started as a corn club in 1902, and by 1914, when Wilson passed the Smith and Lever Act establishing the Extension Service with the Land Grant Universities, 4-H had the youth development piece already in place and the partnership began.
According to Henderson County 4-H agent, Hannah Peeler, 4-H has four deliverables to reach youth audiences: 4-H Clubs, 4-H special Interest Programs, 4-H School Enrichment, and 4-H camps. “We have a little bit of Agriculture focus in each of the deliverables,” she said.
Barnyard Bandits is the primary agriculture-focused 4-H Club in Henderson County and is broken down into smaller groups by animal type. You do not have to have an animal to participate in the club.
4-H Special Interest and School Enrichment Programs are “short term” programs intended to teach a desired outcome and/or life skill. In Henderson County, two that still have room for new participants this summer are the Junior Master Gardener and Ag Day Camp programs.
The Junior Master Gardener program has already started, but is still accepting middle school students. This program covers agriculture that is “out of the traditional” sense, such as ag careers, hydroponics, plant propagation, and ornamental gardening. JMG meets five times from May to August with a mix of evening lessons and field days. The first two meetings in May will set the stage for the “days of camp” and field trips during the summer.
Henderson County’s annual 4-H Agriculture Day Camp will be Monday, July 31st–Friday, August 4th from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. each day. Participants will hear from guest speakers as well as enjoy many hands-on activities. Each day campers will focus on a different agricultural theme including horticulture, agricultural careers, ecosystems, life on a farm, and animal agriculture.
If someone is interested they can reach out to Peeler at hannah_peeler@ncsu.edu
FFA
When recent NCSU graduate Courtney Meyer signed up for an agriculture class her freshman year at Brevard High School, little did she know it would lead her to finish college with an animal science degree. As her interest in the class grew, her teacher encouraged her to join the FFA club. There she participated in various competitions, which led to more involvement with FFA and a love for animal science. “I did a wide variety of competitions, and really enjoyed the ones around animals.”
With no family background in agriculture, she started college as an engineering student, but quickly discovered that what she thought was a hobby was, instead, her passion. Today, Courtney plans to obtain a master’s degree, with a career goal of becoming a beef cattle farm manager or beef manager and she credits it to her high school teachers and FFA.
According to Von Canon, FFA’s mission statement, “Agricultural education prepares students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in the global agriculture, food, fiber, and natural resources systems,” is accomplished through school-based agricultural education instruction in public and private schools.
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Growing Minds Program
According to Danielle Raucheisen, Program Director the vision of ASAP’s Growing Minds Project “is that children learn about and have positive experiences with local food in the classroom, cafeteria, and community.” They do this through support of farm to preschool and farm to school programs across Western North Carolina. Their goal is “that children are served local foods in meals and snacks, engage in hands-on learning through gardening, and participate in education activities related to local food, nutrition, and agriculture.”
This summer they will engage children at Asheville City Market, held downtown every Saturday morning. Available for community events, they also are currently lining up back-to-school activities. ASAP will also host a Farm Tour on September 23 and 24th. As a bonus, their lending library is full of children’s books about food, farms, gardening, and cooking.
For more information go to: growing-minds.org
Community Grown Opportunities
Several unique home-grown opportunities are available in Henderson County.
Historic Johnson Farm was a gift to Henderson County Public Schools from Vernon and Leander Johnson. Their desire was that the farm would become a heritage education facility. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Historic Johnson Farm’s vision is to preserve the past and enrich the future.
According to Mandy Gibson, Executive Director they “hope that by showing young people how people in the past lived and farmed, they will appreciate modern technologies and conveniences like popping into the grocery store to get something for dinner.”
During the school year field trips for lower elementary students offer an opportunity for students to milk a fake cow, gather and match eggs, practice carrying a yoke with buckets, and learn more about farming, both past and present.
They offer camps in the summer. The elementary camps are full for this summer, but they still have room in their Middle School Farm Camp. Beyond that, visitors of all ages are welcome to come to the farm and take the guided tour, or just wander around the grounds and see the animals and old farm equipment.
Bullington Gardens is another unique opportunity in Henderson County. According to Annie Higgins, Administrative Director “Bullington strives to educate young people and create a bond to nature and to the outdoors.
Entrance is free and programs include BOOST (classes meant to equip tenth grade students with practical skills in horticulture and agricultural careers), workshops and science classes for K-5 students, and an Exceptional Children program which uses horticultural therapy to promote well-being and rehabilitation.
Higgins revels in the responses of children when they’ve helped teachers create classroom or school gardens. “Their eyes light up when we pull a potato from the ground and talk about their love of French fries and chips.”
Through the summer, fairies come alive in the garden. “From June 1 through August 31,” Higgins says, “little hands will open and close the nearly 300 yards of fairy homes. The excitement that comes from this whimsical trail creates a long-lasting connection to the outdoors.” The Fairy Market which has storytelling, art classes, and face painting takes place June 24th.
According to their website, bullingtongardens.org, the Gardening for Pollinators program is July 13, from 2-4 p.m. “Henderson County Extension Agent and host of the Gardening in the Mountains Radio Show Steve Pettis will discuss the importance of beneficial insects and pollinators and how to garden for their benefit. Then Steve will lead a pollinator walk through the Bullington Garden grounds.”
Everyday Opportunities For Learning
When asked how parents can help children engage with agriculture the same practical answers came up again and again.
Talk about food as you walk through the grocery store or at the dinner table. Figure out which ingredients on your dinner table came from a farm. (Don’t forget the eggs in the brownies.)
Let your children choose their favorite vegetables to plant. Watch them grow and, once ripe, prepare them together.
Visit farmers’ markets or a U-pick farms where you can meet real farmers. Many area farms have fruit and vegetable stands and welcome people to stop, buy some produce, and meet a farmer.
Robertson summed it up this way. “If kids get involved in agriculture, they gain a respect for the work involved, they know where their food comes from, and they become more grateful.”
And whether parents involve their children in formal programs or work as a family to engage more with agriculture, we can all benefit from an agriculturally savvy generation of consumers and producers.
