Success StoryAGTECH Program



AGTECH Program

Author: Ryan Spicer

Planning Unit: Breathitt County CES

Major Program: Agriculture

Plan of Work: Accessing Nutritious Foods in Breathitt County

Outcome: Long-Term Outcome

With a majority of today’s U.S. consumers three to four generations removed from agriculture, many do not have a good level of knowledge about agriculture and food production. Based upon research conducted by Sullivan, Higdon & Sink consumers know more about movies (40%), politics (45 %), history (47 %) and music (51 %) than they do about food production (40 %). To increase this level of knowledge in the youth of Breathitt County the agent for 4-H Youth Development partnered with APPHarvest and Breathitt County High School to offer a 4 day AGTECH Camp. The camp offered youth the opportunity to work in the APPHarvest container farm, and participating in engaging activities and experiences that all focused on the importance of agriculture and nutritious foods in the community. The Program had great success in Breathitt County and reached 12 youth during the 4 day program. All of the participants indicated that they now had a better understanding of food production, and an increased knowledge of the importance of nutritious foods. The agent plans in the future to continue to partner with Breathitt County High School and AppHarvest to offer relevant agriculture programming to the youth of Breathitt County.   






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