In today’s society, fewer children growing up in Eastern Kentucky have the opportunity to experience and gain knowledge in the food production industry. This is due to many of them being unaware of where their food is derived from and how it gets from one farmer’s field to a consumer’s table. By participating in Pumpkin Days as part of Mountain Ag Week at RCARS, children from the ages of three to six years old and their parents are able to receive an up close and personal look at how their food grows. 

On September of 2018, 1,400 youth, educators, and parents an educational experience while attending Pumpkin Days. It is much more than a simple visit to a fall pumpkin patch; the two-day event includes different activity stations where the students get the opportunity to learn the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s and how’s of pumpkin production. Along with that they also get a chance to use four of their five senses by seeing, tasting, touching, and smelling pumpkins. Components from many educational disciplines are also included from literacy, art, music, science, and health.

The Knott County Extension Agent for Agriculture took time during the event to educate the participants on how pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables grow from a seed planted in a field, to the foods consumed each day during their meals. With all the hands-on educational stations, the educators can gain ways to relate the event experiences as educational opportunities daily in their classroom. More than forty classes visited from the surrounding six counties. 

Of the teachers that completed a post-event survey, results show that over 50% stated they connected the Pumpkin Day event to other activities in their classroom through health, agriculture, and community lessons. It was also reported that 71% of their students sampled the different healthy foods made with pumpkin. While there is no data available to determine if those students continued to include healthy vegetables in their daily diet, the event does have a lasting impact on the students. This was noted by several of the high school agriculture students who volunteered to help prep the pumpkin patch before the two-day event. Several of them recalled that they too had participated in the Pumpkin Patch event in the past.  Another success of the day is that over 81 county agents, university specialists, administrators, farm technicians, support staff, community partners and volunteers worked together to make the event success.