MARSHALL COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) – Where does our food come from?
Some adults don’t even know the answer to that, but now a group of students in Marshall County can tell you all about how local food is grown and made. They also know plenty more about how agriculture influences our lives each and every day.
That’s because of Hands on Agriculture Day.
When you see that spark, they’ve got it. That’s how I know.
Linda Carnell, West Virginia Division of Forestry
Plenty of volunteers, and even a few animals, probably saw that spark from many Marshall County students during Hands on Ag Day.
Fifth graders from all over the county learned new ways that agriculture fits into their lives in ways they wouldn’t expect at the Marshall County Fairgrounds.
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It’s immersive learning experience that’s become a tradition over the past 12-years.
Whenever we were young, we remembered that we got to go either to a farm or they had something like this whenever we were that age.
Katie Fitzsimmons, District Conservationist, National Resources Conservation Service
They learn about keeping bees, growing their own vegetables, raising animals, products that come from our forests and even what’s under the soil we walk on, just to name a few of the eleven lessons.
Lily Patrello, Fifth Grade Student, Washington Lands Elementary
I like gardening and 4-H things and pigs.
Organizers hope being able to experience these types of agriculture, rather than just learning from a book, helps inspire future generations to pursue these fields.
If you’re there, if you see it, if you touch it you’ll remember it more. Then that way that’s a memory that kids will have all growing up.
Katie Fitzsimmons, District Conservationist, National Resources Conservation Service
Presenters also hope students continue to conserve our resources for years to come.
We’re hoping that when their grandchildren’s grandchildren come around we still have forests around here because we’ve done management to have forests for the future.
Linda Carnell, West Virginia Division of Forestry
Hands On Ag Day continues again on Friday so that all fifth grade students have the chance to participate.
