Alberta (Rural Roots Canada) – This March, Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month is celebrating 15 years of working to connect young Canadians with the food system that feeds them.
The national initiative, run by Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, reaches students from kindergarten to Grade 12 across the country. Since it launched, the program has delivered more than one million student experiences in over 18,500 classrooms, with close to 175,000 expected this year alone.
Mercedes Unwin, manager of educational programs at Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, says most students have little idea where their food comes from.
“We’re noticing a growing divide in terms of youth understanding where their food comes from, how it’s looked after, how it’s processed, who’s involved in the process from basically the earth to the plate,” she said.
That divide is what the program was built around. Unwin says agriculture touches far more careers than most students realize, from farming and food processing to equipment technicians, transportation and finance.
“I could go on and on. There are thousands of jobs in the agriculture and food industry in Canada,” she said.
In Alberta, Agriculture for Life runs the Classroom Agriculture Program, which sends volunteers into classrooms with hands-on activities to walk students through where their food comes from. The program is one of several offered across grade levels, tailored to reflect Alberta’s agriculture industry.
READ MORE: Feds investing $27 million to help young Canadians gain experience in agriculture
“We make sure that while it’s a national initiative, it’s very locally focused by working with our partners,” she said.
Those partners include regional organizations in every province, each delivering curriculum-linked programs in English or French, all at no cost to schools.
For Unwin, who has spent seven and a half years in agriculture education, the work is about more than food. It’s about helping students see themselves in an industry they might never have considered.
“I’ve had students who said, I’m interested in 3D modelling, and then they realized they could do that in agriculture by doing 3D modelling of tractors or barns,” she said. “Seeing how you make that connection of their personal life to the wider agriculture and food community, that’s one of the most rewarding moments.”
As part of this year’s 15th anniversary, more than 25 landmarks across Canada are being lit green throughout March.
Free resources in English and French are available through Agriculture in the Classroom Canada at aitc-canada.ca.
Photo courtesy of Agriculture for Life, Alberta member of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada.
