Today is World Food Day: My daily work involves production agriculture, bringing food from pasture to plate. Part of my work includes sharing my passion of cattle production with others who may not have that opportunity on a daily basis. Learn more about Agvocacy efforts throughout my blog. Thank a farmer for the food on your plate today!
Why did the chicken cross the road? (Yeah there’s a little Ag-education to this question).
Imagine having dozens of yellow school buses with 1,000 third graders show up at your workplace on a Tuesday morning and more than 100 parents in tow. Yikes! Actually, this was all an effort by the Tennessee Farm Bureau, the Middle Tennessee Research Station, and several others to share a little Ag Education with area youth.
We had 17 stops for each group, and each stop introduced a different aspect of Agriculture that directly, or indirectly, affects everyone’s daily lives. Most stops touched on basic Ag education; everything from a petting zoo, to crops used in materials used on a daily basis by most consumers. The parents, who had just as many questions as the kids, learned a bit about where their food comes from, how livestock are raised, and even that chocolate milk doesn’t come from a brown cow. At the end of the day, all of the kids got to take home some chocolate milk from the same processor where the research station’s dairy sends its milk.
The group leaders had tons of fun touring each stop with the kids and I look forward to participating in future events much like this. I’m always looking for an opportunity to share what I love most with kids and groups in the area, so just let me know if you’re interested.
I had several questions from teachers about how to incorporate agriculture related material into the classroom. So I made the effort last week to visit with the folks at Tennessee Farm Bureau. Wednesday I will share what I learned about the Ag in the Classroom program, and how educators can work this material into their classroom curriculum.
By the way, The chicken may have crossed the road to eat small rocks, pebbles, or sand. Chickens will store these in their gizzard. The muscles of the gizzard work to grind food against the rocks to help break down food particles.
