Here are tips on how you can celebrate Ag Day (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)
National Agriculture Day, which is March 25th this year, provides all Arizonians with a great opportunity to offer thanks for the local farmers and ranchers who spend their days providing the food that fills our family’s plates.
The goals of National Ag Day are to increase the general knowledge of agricultural practices, enlist public support for agriculture polices, and make people aware of employment opportunities in the agricultural industry.
To help inspire you to celebrate National Ag Day in a creative and educational way, here are 14 ways that you can honor the commitment of our farmers and ranchers by celebrating National Ag Day.
- Buy Local – Commit to buying or eating only locally grown products on March 25th (and regularly thereafter!) to show support for the local families who provide access to locally grown food.
- Organize a Community Fair – Invite local farmers and ranchers to set up booths and educate visitors about what they do and what they make.
- Host a Petting Zoo – Bring the agricultural environment to your location by hosting a petting zoo where children can come and learn more about the animals used in agriculture.
- Coordinate a Field Trip – Organize a classroom trip to a local farm or ranch where the students can learn about how their food is grown and how the animals are raised.
- Host an Educational Pizza Party – Have each participant make their own pizza using locally grown and raised ingredients and provide information on where the food that is being used to make their pizza came from.
- Offer to Help at School – Encourage your local school to participate in some National Ag Day activities by volunteering to coordinate the event. You might include a visit from a farmer or rancher, a petting zoo, or presentations during lunch about how the food that made their meal was grown or raised.
- Volunteer Your Time – Encourage your local library or community center to celebrate National Ag day and volunteer to help design and create an educational exhibit for their location.
- Sponsor a Speaker – Invite a local farmer, rancher, or agriculture advocate to come and speak at your business, school, church, or community group.
- Start a New Farmer’s Market – What better way to celebrate local agriculture than to bring the farmers, ranchers, and producers right into your neighborhood.
- Host an Ag Day Breakfast or Brunch – Ask local producers to donate food or time and raise funds for a local charity.
- Host a Bake Sale – Encourage contributors to use local Arizona agriculture products whenever possible
- Throw a Cook-Off – Get people cooking with Arizona products by hosting a National Ag Day cook-off and require that all entries contain a certain percentage of Arizona grown ingredients.
- Have a Contest – Launch a contest to find the best recipes featuring all local ingredients and allow community members to vote on the winner.
- Start a Gardening Group – Spring is the perfect time to get out in the garden and build a community based on growing food.
For more information about National Ag Day, visit www.agday.org and to learn more about the Farm Service Agency, visit online at www.fsa.usda.gov.
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