The “Farm to You” state exhibit will visit Waldron Elementary on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 7th – 8th.
Students in grades 2nd – 4th have been doing some intense Nutrition education using the Serving up My Plate curriculum over the last month. This will wrap up their month-long education activities.
Farm to You Press Release
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas school children are learning about how the food they eat gets from the farm to their dinner table and how this food is used for good health.
Arkansas Farm to You is an interactive, walk-through display geared toward kindergarten through 6th grade students. The exhibit features ten stations that take the students from the farm, to the table and through the body.
“Since August 2013, the Cooperative Extension Service exhibit has taught more than 5,000 elementary students about agriculture, nutrition, physical activity and health in 12 counties,” said Rosemary Rodibaugh, professor-nutrition for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “By the end of the school year, Arkansas Farm to You will have been in more 50 schools in 33 counties.”
“We believe it’s important for children to know where food comes from and how their food choices affect their health so they will make better food choices,” she said. Arkansas’ children, like those nationwide, are not eating enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains or getting enough physical activity, so there is a great need to teach children the importance of eating healthy and being physically active from an early age. Arkansas Farm to You is part of Cooperative Extension Service’s nutrition education program for youth that spans pre-K through 12 th grade.
The Farm to You adventure begins at Farmer Dale’s Arkansas Plate Farm. On his farm, he raises dairy and beef cattle and chickens, grows rice and beans in the fields and fruits and vegetables in the garden. Children learn that without Farmer Dale, we wouldn’t have the foods needed for a tasty Arkansas Plate.
Students learn to look closely at the Nutrition Facts labels on food packages and how to use the information to make good food choices. In the Healthy Café, they practice building balanced meals by selecting a variety of foods from each of the food groups.
The adventure continues into the mouth where they discuss the importance of keeping teeth clean by brushing and flossing every day. Then the students move to the stomach where they learn how healthy foods are digested into nutrients. They also learn to listen to their stomachs and eat just the right amount of food to be healthy.
The students travel through the body learning about how food and physical activity help make them healthy and strong. The journey wraps up in the skin where they learn that frequent hand- washing and use of sunscreen helps protect skin on the outside.
Schools wishing to have the exhibit should contact their local UA Cooperative Extension office. The county family and consumer sciences agent will work with them and the Farm to You coordinator to schedule the visit to their school.
The school must have an indoor space that’s 40 feet by 40 feet in area, with 10 feet ceiling clearance, at least eight volunteers for setup and take down, and 10 volunteers to be station presenters. Ideally the school should have between 300 and 450 students available to walk through the exhibit.
More information about Farm to You is available from your county Extension office or on our website at: http://www.arfamilies.org/health_nutrition/farmtoyou/default.htm.
Please note that any bookmarked pages or publications at www.uaex.edu will be changing in the next few months.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
