TALLAHASSEE — In an effort to increase agricultural literacy statewide, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson today hosted a press conference on Florida Agriculture Literacy Day at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Tallahassee to kick off the fifth anniversary of the event.
After the press conference, Bronson read this year’s special Agriculture Literacy Day children’s book “These Florida Farms!” to a second-grade class at the school. Joining Bronson at the press conference was “These Florida Farms!” author Gary Seamans and illustrator Mike Wright, both of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Marketing and Development.
They joined 1,300 farmers, ranchers, members of local FFA chapters, agriculture industry volunteers and educators who read in more than 2,600 elementary classrooms around the state in honor of Florida Agriculture Literacy Day, which is Thursday, April 10.
Florida Agriculture Literacy Day is organized by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Gainesville and charged with educating Florida students and teachers about the importance of agriculture.
“Writing a children’s book with Florida commodities seemed a fitting way to celebrate the anniversary of Florida Agriculture Literacy Day,” said Cara Martin, chairman of Florida Ag in the Classroom and assistant director of government and community affairs for Florida Farm Bureau.
“Children today are several generations removed from the farm so it’s important we use events like Florida Agriculture Literacy Day to teach them that their food, fiber and landscape materials come from farms and not from stores,” said Bronson, a former agriculture teacher.
The number of industry volunteers and classrooms who participated in Florida Agriculture Literacy Day this year by region were:
— 238 volunteers in 685 classrooms in the Panhandle
— 103 volunteers in 259 classrooms in Northeast Florida
— 242 volunteers in 525 classrooms in North Central Florida
— 296 volunteers in 515 classrooms in Central Florida
— 228 volunteers in 337 classrooms in the Tampa Bay area
— 100 volunteers in 163 classrooms in South Florida
— 89 volunteers in 131 classrooms in Southwest Florida
Seamans and Wright wrote and illustrated “These Florida Farms!” to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Florida Agriculture Literacy Day. It’s a rhyming book in which a safari guide takes two children on a tour of Florida agriculture to show them that food, clothing and other items come from the farm and not from the store.
Florida Ag in the Classroom provided the books to industry volunteers free of charge, and asked that they donate the books to school libraries after their readings. In addition to the books, Florida Ag in the Classroom provides volunteers with a lesson designed for the book for teachers, and a classroom set of bookmarks for students that list Florida farmers’ contributions to the state economically and environmentally.
Florida Ag in the Classroom is able to offer the books and materials free of charge to industry volunteers because of the funding it receives from sales of the agriculture specialty license plate also known as the “Ag Tag.” In addition to Florida Agriculture Literacy Day, Florida Ag in the Classroom provides curricula, materials, workshops, grant money and other programs to teachers and agriculture industry volunteers who reach out to Florida students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The mission of Florida Ag in the Classroom is to expand youth awareness and understanding of Florida agriculture and natural resources by integrating agricultural concepts into core educational disciplines and Florida Ag in the Classroom supporting programs.