Author: Nan Montgomery
Planning Unit: Allen County CES
Major Program: Agritourism Planning
Plan of Work: Healthy & Safe Food Prep Methods; Farm-to-table; Farmer's Market; SNAP; Gardening; Food Dollars
Outcome: Initial Outcome
According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, more than 50 percent of Kentucky's land is used for agricultural pursuits. Youth Agricultural Days is a program led by the Ohio County Extension Agents to educate 4th-grade students about the importance of Agriculture within the community. Throughout the day, 200 students visited 11 stations with information related to Agriculture, like "The Journey from Farm to Table", "Chicken or the Egg," "Farm Safety," and "Corn and Soybeans."
The Journey from Farm to Table focuses on specialty crops in Kentucky and how they are planted, harvested, and made into food. The Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences leads this station. Each student gets to try homemade pumpkin pancakes with local maple syrup. Another exhibit students visit is Corn and Soybeans, where they learn about corn varieties, industrial uses of corn, and foods that contain corn. The Chicken and the Egg is an interactive poultry display that teaches nutrition and the chicken's lifecycle. Another educational experience provided to students is "Agricultural Toys," where over a million dollars worth of farm machinery is displayed, and youth learn about farm safety practices.
Over 85% of the students do not have a farm background and ultimately learned how agriculture impacts their daily lives. A teacher stated, "My students learned that agriculture is much more than just being a farmer; they learned about many different agriculture careers in science and technology."
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