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Students experience 'Ag in the City'
With curious eyes, young elementary students walked in lines of two, guided by their teacher to discover their basketball court at Grolee Elementary had been transformed with agricultural displays and a few farm animals.
"Ag in the City," an initiative to get encourage students who live in the city of Opelousas to become interested in farming and agriculture, was presented to Grolee Elementary on Wednesday.
"It's exposure; it's planting the seed," said Yvonne Normand, with Ag in the Classroom and St. Landry Parish Farm Bureau. "But you're planting the seed of how they use Mother Earth in their day-to-day lives and agriculture."
Soil scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, members of the local agriculture organization and specialists from the LSU AgCenter and the LSU Aquaculture Research Station presented sugar cane, soil specimens and even a goat to try and pique the interests of the children.
Ronnie Levy, Ph.D., state soybean specialist with the LSU AgCenter, brought sugar cane stalks and various crops grown in St. Landry Parish to show the children what crops look like before it's processed into everyday goods.
"It gives them a better understanding how crops are used in their everyday life," said Levy. "Most of them had never seen some of the raw products that they eat or use everyday, and hopefully they will see the importance of agriculture because so few people provide food for the country today, so we have less people with the understanding of the importance of agriculture."
The event was sponsored by the St. Landry Parish Farm Bureau, Agromen, LSU AgCenter, LSU Aquaculture Research Station and the Opelousas Parks and Recreation Department.
"I think the kids and this generation are not aware of how to use their resources, especially in Louisiana where we have a lot of different resources available to us, and how to use the land to survive," Vice Principal Angela Thomas said.