Celebrate National Agriculture Day

One of the most important things we can do as parents is to expose our children to a variety of foods for both their heath and education as world citizens. Talking about foods like corn and how it was an important crop for the Native American people and how it grows well with beans and squash to form the “Three Sisters” can open up hours of conversation and cooking opportunities for the kitchen. But, we can also take it further and discuss how food develops from seed to the table and the sustainable journey that it can be. National Agriculture Day is a great opportunity to start these types of conversations.

This year, on March 8th, the Agriculture Council of America is celebrating National Ag Day. It is a day on which we can celebrate and educate folks about the agricultural needs of the world and America farmers’ methods of production. While it does have a small “green” slant to it, as they do make a mention about how we need to farm sustainably, you can take it a step further. You can use this day as a stepping off point to educate your own family about how organic farmers are creating sustainable food systems and how their methods are respectful not only for the health of humans, but also the health of the planet as a whole.

The Ag Day website offers some great activities to do on Ag Day or for anytime during the year. Below are just a few. Some offer great civics lessons for school age children and can really empower them to use their citizen voices. How awesome would it be to have your child present his/her area legislator with a personal invitation to a local farm?! Take some time to browse through the options, discuss them with your kids and help the country become more aware of the farm to table movement.

Farmer’s Markets