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Many thanks to all of the county coordinators, volunteer readers, teachers, and students who participated in this year's Agricultural Literacy Week! Each day we get a stack of teacher feedback cards and county tracking forms that highlight what worked and who participated. Understanding the impact of programs like these is vital as we continue to collaborate with partners around the state to increase awareness, appreciation, and understanding of food and fiber systems in New York and beyond. We look forward to sharing our final report with you once all of the results are tabulated.
 Senator Patty Ritchie reads to students at Dexter Elementary in Jefferson County. Thank you to Sue Gwise for sharing this photo.
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Ideas & Inspiration: Spring is an exciting time on the farm and in our communities. From buds to blooms, eggs to chicks and poults, goat kids and lambs jumping about...spring is a great time to explore farm animal life cycles and seasons. Planting the Seeds of Memory by Michael Kaufmann, posted on the Farm-Based Education Association's blog "Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Where does maple syrup come from? How much does a full grown sow weigh or how does the chick get inside the egg? Those are familiar questions farm educators answer for their audiences. It is this kind of information we impart during farm tours, at seminars, at the farm market stand or when CSA customers come to the farm for their weekly vegetable pick-up. We want them to know about agriculture and to understand their role in it. This is the tangible side of farm education, of what we are trying to impart. But there is the other side of what we teach, in the realm of emotion and feelings, far removed from understanding soil ph and detailed explanation of milk fat and learning about the benefits of whole wheat. What do we want them to 'feel' at the sound of the word 'farm'? What memories and sensory experiences will the suburban or city child have in future to draw on?" Take a Virtual Field Trip to a Working Egg Farm April 18, 2012 1:00pm ET Third generation egg farmers will take your students on a tour of their farm, show how eggs travel from the hen to the breakfast table, and explain how their family business is contributing to the health and welfare of the community. Click on link above to register. |
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Books:
Farm Animals by Bobbie Kalman
 Can you touch your nose the way a cow can? Find out in this colorful non-fiction PreK-K reader with farm animal pictures. Educator's Guide available from American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture with six corresponding activities for children ages 5 and up. Teachers and adults visiting the classroom can use the Educator's Guide to help children make real life connections to farm animals and demonstrate how farmers care for animals every day.
 How do we know it's spring? The sun shines and rain falls. Baby animals are born, and flowers bloom. What do you see in spring? Available in both Spanish and English, this book is great for preK-3 learners.
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Lesson Plans:
This guide has 6 fun and thought-provoking activities for preK-K to address key developmental indicators of reading, writing, numbers, counting, and sequencing.
Sample lesson from Food, Land & People, grades 4-6. Students learn the efficient use of renewable resources to meet human need in this lesson. Five small groups of students build a food system to meet their needs, which is based upon the capability of their land resource, climate, topography, and economics. The lesson provides information that directs students to understand why grazing is an environmentally sound option in each scenario.
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Web Resources:
Lesson plans, nutrition information, recipes and videos to learn more about eggs and egg production from two story hen houses to cage free aviaries, a visit to a feed mill, and an egg processing facility.
Books, activities, songs, resources and more all about farm animals!
Includes an aerial photograph of the Teaching Animal Unit at the NCSU Veterinary Medicine College. The purpose of this farm is to show the students at the school how to manage and care for each of the species. Click on the links to find out more about the animals that are raised on the farm.
More activities and resources about farm animals.
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Video:
One of the most exciting things a visitor to Fesko Farms gets to experience is a birth. Butterflies and bluebirds as well as mammals such as horses, puppies and calves are the stars in this DVD.
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Funding Opportunities:
Open to NYC public and charter schools who have registered with Grow to Learn. $500-$2000 to start or expand your school garden. Applications due by May 1, 2012.
Be sure to keep up to date with current available grants by checking this website often. You can also find a lot of other school gardening resources here.
The grants section of the USDA Farm to School website include an extensive list of Farm to School related funding opportunities by USDA and other Federal agencies. The information is organized by target audience, which includes farmers, schools and community.
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NY AITC Events
Food, Land and People Workshops
May 5th Brooklyn, NY
Hosted by New York City network of youth and school gardens at PS 32/Samuel Mills Sprole in Brooklyn.
9:15am-3:00pm
$10 registration fee helps cover space rental and refreshments
Register here.
For more information and workshop brochures, please visit our website .
 State deadline: April 13th
Entry forms can be downloaded here.
The I Love NY Agriculture Contest is an opportunity to explore agriculture and the food system while meeting NYS Learning Standards. Students can discover more about where food comes from and why agriculture is important for all of us everyday. For more information on this pre-K-6th grade contest, visit our website .
Other Events & Opportunities
Virtual Field Trip to a Working Egg Farm
April 18, 2012 1:00pm ET, pre-registration necessary
Third generation egg farmers will take your students on a tour of their farm, show how eggs travel from the hen to the breakfast table, and explain how their family business is contributing to the health and welfare of the community. Click on link above to register.
Take Root! A Training for Garden Educators, Cornell Garden-Based Learning April 27, 2012 in Canton, NY Take Root! trainings are open to educators and youth workers interested in, or already implementing, garden-based learning into their work. This training will cover: developing a long-term approach to garden-based programs, fundraising approaches, building capacity, forming collaborations, building healthy soil and composting, raised beds, and more. Registration Required. Call Bobbi-Jo Brothers at 315-379-9192 ext 237, bmr37@cornell.edu, or visit CCE St. Lawrence's website.
May 12, 2012 in Brooklyn, NY
This FREE conference is expecting over 5000 people from every neighborhood in Brooklyn and beyond to attend. There will be 100+ workshops on a variety of topics, food demos, an expo of non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses, kids and family programs, forums, roundtable discussions, a youth summit, and more.
June 19-22, 2012 in Loveland, Colorado
Join NY AITC and educators from around the US for engaging, interactive workshops that will share methods for incorporating real-life agricultural applications into classroom style language arts, math, nutrition, science and social studies lessons.
American Horticultural Society's National Children and Youth Garden Symposium gathers educators together for engaging and inspiring garden-based learning workshops, field trips, and networking. Registration opens in April 2012.
August 2-5, 2012 in Burlington, Vermont
The conference brings together food service professionals, farmers, educators, policy makers, representatives from government agencies and nonprofits, entrepreneurs, students and others who are breaking down barriers and expanding the impact of Farm to Cafeteria.
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Did You Know...
baby alpaca or llama=cria
baby cow=calf
baby chicken=chick
baby turkey=poult
baby duck=duckling
baby goat=kid
baby pig=piglet
baby rabbit=kitten, bunny, or kit
baby sheep=lamb
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Visit our website
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Our Mission...
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is to foster awareness, understanding, and appreciation of how we produce food and fiber, what we eat, and how we live, by helping educators, students, and their communities learn about and engage with agriculture and food systems.
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