Ag Education should be in All Schools

  

Every school is different, and the education you receive based on where you went varies, some schools have ballet class instead of P.E., some schools have accounting classes, some have shop classes, and there's some that barely have the required reading and math classes. However, the thing that should be present in all of them is agriculture education. 

I grew up in what would be considered a farming town, therefore I had to take intro to Ag in middle school, and we learned about corn, beans, and livestock. After that though any other Ag class was an elective so we didn't have to take them, and honestly I didn't because I was too busy loading up on math and science. Regardless they had something that was required and we often talked about farming in elementary school as well, so students whose families didn't farm knew something about what goes on around town. 

However, being at college with a much more diverse student body, I can tell that not everybody had a form of Ag education growing up. People are always so curious about what it's like to live on a farm and what cows are like and they're even fascinated by tractors. I met someone that didn't know that people drove tractors on the road, they thought they were only allowed to drive in fields and on grass to get from place to place. Agriculture is such a big part of the United States and people lives whether they realize it or not, that we should be making sure everyone knows about how it works. 

Imagine what the world would be like if supporters of PETA and other animal rights groups were actually informed about why we raise animals like we do, they would soon realize that having animals penned close together is not harming or abusing them, in many cases they like to be that close to one another, and it causes them less stress. 

One of the main reasons that people and myself are advocating for Ag education is the fact that people need to know where their food comes from. So many people fall victim to the marketing promotions of 'antibiotic free,' 'grass fed,' or 'organic' thinking that those sound healthier, not know what they actually mean in terms of the quality of food they are buying. My roommate often falls victim to these schemes and will come back from the store with brown eggs instead of white because they look more natural when in reality they are just eggs and she just spent $2 more than she needed to. There is no nutritional difference in grass fed beef compared to grain fed beef, they are both beef. They might have a slightly different taste, but one is not healthier to eat than the other. It is easy to see how misinformed people fall prey to marketing schemes when they don't know anything about the agricultural industry. 

Not only would ag education help people to make better food choices when shopping, it is also a great way to show people the importance of hard labor, the trades, getting dirty and many other very practical skills. Even learning how to garden is a valuable agriculture skill. While there are a lot of people in urban areas that work hard, running a farm is a different kind of hard and I think people need to realize that so that they can appreciate the dedication and hard work that goes into putting food on their plate. 

The agriculture industry will never go away, in an article about adding ag into school curriculum in Beef Magazine, the author Amanda Radke states that there are aver 57,000 jobs open in the agriculture industry each year, and wouldn't it be great if people outside of rural areas started filling more of those positions. they can't do that though if they don't know that the agriculture industry exists and is so important. 

Another article in Beef Magazine by Becky Church, a recent high-school graduate who is pursuing a career in agriculture by way of communication and leadership, says 

"With the average consumer being multiple generations removed from the farm, and modern food production often under assault in the media, it is vital that children be introduced to agriculture at an early age via primary education. Educating children about farm production not only connects them to their food source, but it creates a chain-linked response into their homes. Kids go home and tell their parents what they learned at school, unintentionally informing their family and friends in the process."

This again shows the importance of introducing ag education into all schools. Becky's school did not have an Ag program and she drove 45- minutes to another high school several times a month in order to be apart of FFA and get her American Degree. 

It is easy to drone on about the lack of ag education in the United States right now, and how it is challenging to students who want to pursue agriculture education but, the more important question is: what should we do about it? 

It is difficult to change school curriculum quickly, but a great option if you or your child are at a school that doesn't offer ag classes is to try and arrange to bring in a guest speaker into the school for even a quick ag lesson a few times a year. Arranging a field trip to a local farm is also a great way to show kids what farming is like. As a parent you can also find programs like 4-H, AFA, or FFA for your kids to participate in that help give them hands on experience with agriculture. If those programs are not available in your area find out how to start them. Big changes take time in schools, but if you're dedicated, little ones can come much faster. 

I believe every child should know the difference between hay and straw, and be able to pet every kind of farm animal there is. Ag education is important.