August 6, 2019

Teaching children where their food comes from

Topic: Education

By Alisha Nord, NDFB Southeast Field Representative

This past month I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Cass County Farm Bureau (CCFB) Ag Education Center during the Red River Valley Fair (RRVF) in Fargo. This event is one I always look forward to because it’s a fun way to teach children (and even some adults) about agriculture and where their food comes from.

During the RRVF, thousands of people come through the CCFB Ag Education Center. It’s not your typical agriculture display, where you walk around and visit the different booths with information at each spot. This is a hands-on, interactive event.

When visitors enter the building, they are handed a bucket along with a checklist. From there, they visit each commodity and “harvest” their crops, such as sugar beets, sunflowers, soybeans, corn and wheat. After they harvest their product, they then go to the grinding station. This is where the kids learn how their crop turns into the food they eat, such as bread and pasta and also feed for livestock.

Livestock includes, poultry, beef, swine, dairy, goats, and sheep. There is also an area on bees and honey. At the end of the center is a grocery store area. This is where the kids turn in their bucket of products they have received from each station, and can turn it in for an agriculture related toy.

This year, things at the RRVF got a little interesting, as the turkeys escaped one night! The next morning involved a lot of running around the fairgrounds, catching turkeys.

As farmers, our goal of being transparent happens right in this building. I love being able to tell people about my family’s farming and ranching operation and assuring them, as Americans, we have the safest food supply. This is something to celebrate!