A week just wasn’t long enough…
Six years after the launch of Canadian Agriculture Literacy Week, the program has been expanded to Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month for the month of March 2017.
Agriculture in the Classroom – Canada (AITC) and its partners will be delivering agriculture programming to over 800 classrooms and 30,000 students across the country, reading books about farming, watching videos, and meeting with farmers and others in the agriculture industry.
“Due to increasing demand by schools to participate, AITC-Canada is thrilled to expand this important event from a week to a month. This gives us to the opportunity to spend further time celebrating and sharing the Canadian agriculture story to more students, in more schools across Canada,” explained Johanne Ross, AITC-Canada executive director, kicking off the program on Wednesday.
“In Canada, many families are two or three generations away from the farm. CALM provides an opportunity to help young Canadians understand the importance and value of agriculture to their lives and their communities,” she continued. “For the sixth year, this initiative will engage and connect producers and industry members to teachers and students across the country, which is imperative for the future of agriculture.”
Farm Credit Canada is providing core funding to expand the program from a week to a month.
“The additional funding this year means that we can reach more students in each participating province – as the agriculture industry grows, so does the need for additional talented, energetic and well-educated young people.” noted FCC president and CEO Michael Hoffort. “We are making more direct connections between students and their food, so they can understand more about a vital Canadian industry and the opportunities available to them.”
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan’s government formally proclaimed March 1 to 31 as Agriculture Literacy month. AITC – Saskatchewan’s Sara Shymko said over 150 volunteers will be sharing their agriculture stories with more than 6,500 students in the province.
AITC will also be hosting a Twitter contest with prizes, encouraging producers, ag industry people, and students to share their food story using the hashtags #MyFoodStory and #CALM17.
Related:
- National Ag in the Classroom Organization Established
- Bringing Ag Into the Classroom — Ag Literacy Week and the Challenges Faced by Farmers Around the World
