From the fields, to their forks

Youth learn about agriculture during 4-H day camp

Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.

As time passes, as cities grow and farmlands become swallowed up by neighborhoods, shopping centers and roads, consumers who buy their fruits, vegetables or meats in a grocery store become less familiar with what it takes to grow their food.
A new 4-H summer camp, however, seeks to help inform children on where their food comes from and the process it takes to bring fresh produce or meat to their local grocery store.
According to Jefferson County's UF/IFAS Extension Office's Agriculture and Natural Resource Agent Danielle Sprague, young consumers are less likely to cook food at home and more likely to eat out or purchase pre-prepared foods from their grocery store.
“Many youth lack an understanding of our food system, as well as the life skills they need to purchase and prepare food. Gardening, cooking at home and purchasing local foods instead of eating out are ways to not only help address rising obesity in our county, but also support local agriculture,” writes Sprague.
In an attempt to solve those problems, the Jefferson Extension Office and 4-H staff put together the Field to Fork Day camp.
The aims of the camp were to show the youth campers the various farms and producers around the county, as well as to increase youth awareness of the agricultural production process and help build the necessary life skills needed to eat and shop healthily.
The camp lasted for a week, between June 10-14 and was open to youth between the ages of 11-14.
Every day of the camp, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., youth campers were educated on agriculture through hands-on demonstrations, powerpoint presentations, games, team building exercises, farm and restaurant tours and classes pertaining to cooking, grilling, gardening, meal planning and grocery shopping.
During the course of the day camp, the youth visited local restaurants who use locally sourced ingredients in their menus, were given tours and a brief workplace experience in a local grocery store and took field trips to a local hog farm, blueberry field and meat processing plant.
After the day camp ended, Extension Office staff members conducted an evaluation and to get a better idea of youth camper knowledge before and after the week-long camp; the survey concluded that 100 percent of the 11 students said that the camp had increased their knowledge of agriculture, with 91 percent saying they were more aware of agriculture's part in the food chain supply, 100 percent were more interested in gardening from home, 72 percent said they were more interested in a future career in agriculture, 91 percent said they were more interested in cooking from home, 90 percent said they planned to cook more at home, 90 percent said they felt more confident when it came to grilling their food and 82 percent said they planned to plant a garden at home.