Urban Ag in the Classroom

           “Do all farmers wear overalls and straw hats?” “Silos hold milk, right?” “How long does it take a quarter of beef to grow back?” - And then there is the classic- “If white milk comes from white cows, does chocolate milk come from brown cows?”

These questions are just a few of many that are asked when Agriculturalists share their knowledge about agriculture at state fairs and expos where livestock are present. People are completely serious when they ask these questions. How could they be so naïve about different agricultural processes? It is for this reason that Urban Ag in the Classroom events were started.

Urban Ag in the Classroom events were developed to teach elementary and high school students on the process of how their food gets from the field to the grocery store. This is accomplished through workshops, hands-on activities, and the ability to bring livestock into the learning area. A typical workshop will start by the volunteer asking what agriculture means to the students and how they are affected by it. Students are surprised when they realize that they are affected by agriculture every day whether it is through the food they eat; the gas they put in their cars; the toys they play with; or the clothing and make-up that they wear.

            Bringing animals for the students to see is highlight of Urban Ag in the Classroom events. For a lot of the students it is their first time seeing any type of livestock- much less touch them. In an event put on by the Morris and Dassel-Cokato FFA chapters, cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses were brought to the school for the students to pet. By each animal there was an information booth where agriculturalists talked about each animal and different by-products that were made as a result of the animal.

In another event put on at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, over six hundred 5^th graders were brought in from local schools to go through different booths about agriculture, meet agriculturalists, see livestock animals, and get a free meal put together by the Minnesota Cattle Growers Association. It is through events like this that children get a glimpse at what it is like to be actively involved in agriculture and what agriculture really means. Agriculture educators stress the importance of agriculture and the diversity of it. It is because of people like them that students know the correct answers to “Do all farmers wear overalls and straw hats?” “What do silos hold?” “How long does it take a quarter of beef to grow back?” and “Where does chocolate milk come from?”

 For more information on Urban Ag in the Classroom events, see your state’s Department of Agriculture>Ag in the Classroom website.

Resources:
http://www.agclassroom.org/
Morris FFA Chapter- Ag in the Classroom: http://www.morrisareaffa.org/UrbanAgintheClassroomProject.aspx

Related Websites: 

http://www.nd.gov/ndda/program/ag-classroom
http://www.nd.gov/ndda/program/ag-classroom
North Dakota AgMag: http://www.nd.gov/aitc/ag_mag/
Minnesota Ag Mag: http://www.mda.state.mn.us/kids.aspx