By Aspen Lenning
When I think about the most important ideas I want to share with young people, food is always the first thing that comes to mind. Not only because I have a deep passion for food, but also because it is so important! What we put into our bodies fuels us for the day, for good or for bad. Through the Dickinson State University’s Collegiate Farm Bureau Virtual Cooking School, we were able to share easy recipes that anyone can make and to share a little bit about how that food is produced.
Anyone is welcome to take part in our Virtual Cooking School! While the recipes are geared toward elementary students, my grandparents had a blast making our energy bites last week and said they even learned a thing or two. Ultimately, if we gave even one kid the independence to be able to put out a healthy snack or meal by themselves, it is a win in my book. Agriculture is often overlooked. We know this, but with this project we were able to make the connections between agricultural commodities and their respective final products.
In addition, we had the pleasure of working with Stark County Farm Bureau to be able to provide 25 meal kits to kids in need in our area. We bought all the ingredients, pre-measured most of the ingredients, and dropped it off with our hardworking local social services. While this project was a little more work than we had anticipated, we pulled it off, and I think we made a difference in our community. We even have plans to share our videos with students in New Jersey who are even more disconnected from agriculture to spark their interest in agriculture. This is still in the planning stages, but we have high hopes. Thank you to everyone who participated, and if you haven’t, we would love to see your cooking skills! There are yummy recipes for kids of all ages.
Aspen is from Plaza, N.D. and is the DSU Collegiate Farm Bureau President. She is a senior at DSU, majoring in agricultural studies with an option in natural resource management.