Campbell County Extension has taken on the task of educating our young people about the value of agriculture through the program “Grow It, Eat It, Wear It.”  In a county where many young people may never have the opportunity to step foot on a farm, we must take action to provide our youth with a chance to learn how important our agriculture community is.

This year in collaboration with the Alexandria Fair board, the Campbell County Farm Bureau, Campbell County FFA, Campbell County Cattleman’s Association, Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association, Northern Kentucky Horse Network, and 4-H Livestock volunteers, Campbell County 4-H and Agriculture agents hosted 572 5^th graders from 12 different schools in Campbell County.

This year in addition to the following stations From Moo to You (dairy and beef cattle), Grow It and Wear It (sheep and goats), Horsepower, Pollinating with Bees, and What Came First, Chicken or the Egg a new station was offered, An Apple a Day. Youth learned about the differences between fruits and vegetables, how apples (and fruit) grow, the different varieties of apples, and the nutritional value of eating fruit. At the end of each session, the groups could identify the characteristics of fruits.  Youth also successfully sorted the fruits based on what they grow on. They also got to taste-test three varieties of apples and graph the results of their favorite apple. Surprisingly, most students stated their favorite apple was the Golden Delicious and before that day 60% had never tried Golden Delicious apples before. And around 25% had never seen a yellow apple in person before. 

Program evaluations show that adding “An Apple a Day” to the rotation was a good addition.

            - “The apple presentation was a great addition.”

            - “An Apple a Day fits into our observation and plotting data standards”