Connecting Classrooms to Our Agricultural Community

By: Alix Clausen, Director of Education and Engagement

October is Farm to School Month, and for us at the East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate something we care deeply about: helping students build a connection to the agriculture happening all around them.

Growing up in the Central Valley means being surrounded by agriculture, but students don’t always get the chance to experience firsthand where their food comes from. Through FEAST, our Food Education & Ag Stewardship Training program, we’re helping bring those experiences directly to local students in grades K–12.

FEAST gives students a full year of hands-on learning that connects agriculture with the food on their plates. Students begin with agriculture classes in the fall, where they explore how food is grown and learn about the soil that supports it . They even get the chance to grow food themselves, caring for plants and watching the growing process unfold firsthand.  In the spring, they move into the kitchen for cooking classes that build practical skills while showing how what grows in our communities becomes part of the meals we eat.

That progression from soil to table is an important part of FEAST. It gives students the chance to experience agriculture as something they can participate in, rather than something they simply learn about from a book.

This Farm to School Month, we’re grateful for the schools and educators who make these experiences possible. We’re excited to continue helping local students discover their own connection to agriculture and the food they eat.