Instead of kids visiting farms, the farms will come to schools today all across Florida.
Thousands of students in more than 500 schools in 60 counties will participate in the 11th Annual Florida Agriculture Literacy Day, an educational campaign that brings agricultural programs to the classroom.
For his part, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam will be reading to a group of second grade students from the Florida A&M Developmental Research School during a visit to the Senate Chambers in the Old Capitol.
Developed to encourage literacy among grade school students, Agriculture Literacy Day features readings to students in kindergarten through fifth grade, held by a group of farmers, ranchers, students from the University of Florida and 4-H agents, as well as master gardeners, FFA teachers and agriculture industry representatives.
To celebrate the event, each year the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services publishes a book exclusively for Literacy Day that highlights the Florida agriculture industry.
This year’s book is “Florida Farms at School.”
Sponsoring the statewide event is Florida Agriculture in the Classroom Inc., a nonprofit organization to develop and train teachers and industry volunteers to develop a curriculum to educate students on the importance of agriculture.
The state provides grant money — funded by sales of the “Ag Tag” specialty agricultural license plate — to teachers and volunteers helping to teach children where food comes from, as well the role of Florida’s farmers.
For more information on Ag Literacy Day and Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, visit www.flagintheclassroom.com.
