THE GOAT FARM

Agriculture is the backbone of any civilization. Without farmers, communities would cease to exist. Between 2017-2022, 140,000 farms in the US closed, and in 2023 an additional 5,000 farms also closed. Farming has slowly been declining for many years, which is why bringing agriculture to classrooms is not only important but vital.

Adopting agriculture into a classroom environment has many benefits. One of them being that is teaches the knowledge of basic survival skills. Students learn how to grow their own food, by starting seeds, transplanting them and then harvesting the crops when it’s ready. In addition to this, kids can also learn the difference between poisonous and edible plants which can be extremely useful. This includes plant ID for plants that are native to their region.

Another benefit is that kids gain an understanding of where their food come from. Children learn about the amount of money, effort and resources that go into food production. Many Americans have little understanding of effort that goes into the food they eat everyday, which brings us to another incredible benefit of ag in the classroom. It teaches responsible consumption. An estimated 30-40% of the US food supply is wasted every year, which translates to hundreds of billions of pounds. On top of this, an estimated 47.4 million people (around 13.5% of the population) in the US don’t have enough food. If children learn how much goes into producing each morsel of food, then they are less likely to waste food as adults. This responsibility has the ability to change the food system and encourage conversations about sustainable living.

In addition to educating students on responsible consumption it also provides kids with nutritional knowledge to make better choices about what they eat. Lack of knowledge leaves kids vulnerable to marketing claims to how healthy a product is, regardless of its actual nutritional value. In addition to this, it also helps the kids to avoid cutting out necessary food due to diet trends as they become adults.

Farming is physically demanding, it sometimes requires lots of heavy lifting and long hours for those who work in the industry full time. Because of this, having ag in the classroom keeps students physically active and helps to increase their physical and mental endurance. It also encourages team building and improves communication skills.

Arguably, one of the most important benefits of adding ag to the curriculum is it can inspire more people to enter into an industry that is in desperate need of the younger generation. Many people who enter the ag industry, specifically the actual farming side of ag come from farming families. It can be difficult for those who are first generation to gain a foot hold, teaching ag in schools can allow these individuals start with a basic understanding of ag operations and the industry as a whole.

Regardless if students enter ag industry when they graduate, educating students about agriculture does more than just teach about raising livestock and growing plants. It teaches responsibility and leadership to create informed and self sufficient citizens. More and more schools are adopting ag into their curriculum. North Hampton Elementary School has a greenhouse where students germinate seeds and then transplant the seedlings into their garden. Dover, Sanborn Regional and other high schools have ag classes available to their students and allows them to become members of the FFA (Future Farmers of America).