Canadian Ag Literacy Week expands to full month
March 2, 2017
Agriculture in the Classroom – Canada (AITC-Canada), representing eight provincial Agriculture in the Classroom organizations, will participate in Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (formerly Canadian Agriculture Literacy Week) in schools across Canada for the month of March. This will be the sixth year that AITC-Canada has participated in this Canadian agriculture literacy program.
Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM) is a hands-on program that encourages children to learn about and celebrate agriculture in various ways, including reading books about farming, watching videos and meeting with farmers and others from the agriculture industry. Building students’ awareness of their connection to local farmers and agriculture industry representatives is an important part of the success of CALM.
The theme of CALM 2017 is “Our Food. Our Story.” AITC-Canada provincial organizations will deliver programming to over 30,000 students in more than 800 classrooms across Canada in March.
AITC Saskatchewan will celebrate CALM by coordinating classroom presentations for over 6600 students across the province. During classroom presentations, over 150 volunteers from the agriculture industry will share their experiences and stories about agriculture with students, ultimately creating a greater understanding and awareness of agriculture.
Nationally, AITC-Canada will offer a live stream Webinar entitled “Trashing Food Waste with Technology.” Teachers and Students will be able to view this live presentation that features Jessica Brady from Okanagan Specialty Fruits who have developed the Arctic Apple (www.arcticapples.com). An exciting, new initiative will encourage producers, industry members and students to share their food stories on Twitter using #MyFoodStory #CALM17, to possibly win cash prizes.
“Due to increasing demand by schools to participate, AITC-Canada is thrilled to expand this important event from a week to a month. This gives us the opportunity to spend further time celebrating and sharing the Canadian agriculture story with more students in more schools across Canada, ” says Johanne Ross, AITC-Canada Executive Director. “In Canada, many families are two or three generations away from the farm. CALM provides an opportunity to help young Canadians understand the importance and value of agriculture in their lives and their communities. For the sixth year, this initiative will engage and connect producers and industry members with teachers and students across the country, which is imperative for the future of agriculture.”
The change from a week of ag literacy to a month-long event is possible through generous funding from Farm Credit Canada. “The additional funding this year means that we can reach more students in each participating province. As the agriculture industry grows, so too does the need for additional talented, energetic and well-educated young people,” said Michael Hoffort, FCC President and CEO. “We are making more direct connections between students and their food, so that they can understand more about a vital Canadian industry and the opportunities available to them.”
For more information, visit Ag in the Classroom’s website
Follow Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month #CALM17 #MyFoodStory