The month of October has been dedicated “Kansas Farmi to School Month,” in an initiative that supports Kansas ranchers and farmers and provides agricultural education opportunities to students in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Agriculture has teamed up with the Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas Agri-Tourism, Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and the Kansas Rural Center for this exciting month-long program.
The National Farm to School organization strives to connect schools with local farms, while improving student nutrition, serving healthful meals, and educating students about how we get our food. The organization estimates that around 5.7 million United States students benefitted from Farm to School programs in the 2011/2012 school year, and that number will most likely grow this year.
In addition to Farm to School Month, Kansas Farm to School Week will take place October 22-25, and October 24 is proclaimed Kansas Food Day. The Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, Dale Rodman, said, “With the recent national focus on school lunch guidelines and an increasing interest from consumers to learn about food production, advocating for agriculture and educating people about where their food comes from is timely and important.”
For those that are not aware, Farm to School programs exist in rural communities all over the United States, and October is always dedicated as Farm to School Month. We think it’s great that schools are promoting the importance of agricultural awareness and educating children on where our nation’s food comes from. Would you have benefitted from this type of Farm program when you were in school?
In times of economic hardship for many of our nation’s farmers and ranchers, it’s important to know that ag businesses and land values are still thriving. By teaching our students how to support local farms and that it is possible to eat locally, we can keep our nation’s farms and ranches healthy.
Contact Reck Agri to learn more about farm and ranch properties for sale in the plains states of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas.
