Agriculture Education Lessons Disseminated to Educators in Daylong Pilot Light Symposium
All photos by Shabari Bailey for Pilot Light.
Pilot Light’s new Agriculture Education lessons are now available on our online lesson plan library following the culmination of a two-year research grant from the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s Food and Service Learning Program. This July, Pilot Light brought together over 45 teachers and community partners for a daylong event Cultivating Food Systems Leadership, which shared the results of this research and marked the debut of the new Agriculture Education (AgEd) and Advocacy lessons!
The Importance of AgEd & Advocacy
The day began with a panel discussion on the importance of agriculture & advocacy education featuring Nick Davis of Community Food Navigator, Marissa Dake of DNO Produce, and Pilot Light Founding Chef Matthias Merges of Folkart Management. Panelists each shared their own background in the realm of food & agriculture education, and underscored the importance of advocacy in everyday lives and careers.
Following the panel, attendees had the chance to experience three of the seven AgEd & Advocacy lessons for themselves in a series of hands-on demonstrations led by Pilot Light staff and our community partners.
“At Pilot Light, we know that true change happens through community,” said Eileen Torpy, Director of School & District partnerships and AgEd & Advocacy program designer. “The structure of our dissemination event was designed to mimic the experiences we hope teachers and students have in our programs – it laid foundational knowledge from multiple perspectives with our keynote panel, gave opportunities for practice and investigation through hands-on activities and breakout rooms, shared best practices through our grant recap presentation, and most importantly prioritized the connections attendees made with each other.”
Agriculture Education Lessons in Action: How do we grow our food?
Breakout room one, designed around the agriculture education lesson “Organic vs. Conventional: How Do We Grow Our Food?” was co-led by Food Education Fellowship Director Caitlin Arens and Contemporary Farmer Inc. Founder Daviiid Toledo. In this lesson, students practice planting cucumber seeds while they learn about the differences between dirt and soil. Then, they have the opportunity to taste test different types of produce to see if they can identify which have been grown conventionally and which have been grown organically. Finally, students review what they learned and compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the two growing methods.
Agricultural careers
The second breakout room featured a demonstration of Agriculture Education Lesson #5 – “Agricultural Careers.” This discussion was led by Fellowship Alumni Network Manager Tamieka Hardy and British Griffis, founder of Harvest OG. In this lesson, students practice math skills while learning about the realities of life as a farmer through a simulation game entitled “Bushels or Bust.” This game encourages students to consider the conditions and requirements of farming beyond planting and harvesting by making mock budgets and experiencing both the risks and rewards of becoming a farmer. Furthermore, students discuss the multifaceted nature of agriculture as a career field. They are encouraged to expand their perception of the agricultural field to include new biotechnologies, communications, agribusiness, and more.
Advocating for our hungry planet
Finally, in breakout room #3, Eileen Torpy explored the culminating lesson “Advocating for Our Hungry Planet,” which ends the AgEd & Advocacy unit with student-led advocacy projects. These advocacy projects get students thinking about sustainable agriculture practices. Together, students work in small groups to identify an agricultural advocacy issue relevant to their own communities. Upon completion, students present their research projects to each other and their wider school community through a project showcase. In addition, Pilot Light Evaluation Associate Rachel Brustein led a discussion about the organization’s evaluation mission and best practices.
What We’ve Learned
Following these breakout rooms, event attendees enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Chef Jessica Walks First of Ketapanen Kitchen. The lunch consisted of foods indigenous to the Chicagoland region, including bison tacos, homemade corn tortillas, and a fresh garden salad. While everyone enjoyed their lunch, Eileen Torpy ended the day with a presentation on the AgEd & Advocacy research grant, which funded the creation and implementation of this new program over the last two years.
“The AgEd & Advocacy Program funded by a FASLP grant from NIFA was an exciting success for Pilot Light. Built on our Food Education Standards and Agriculture Education lessons, we’re delighted to report that our aims of supporting teachers and engaging students in conversations about being agents of change in the food system have been met through this grant,” Torpy explained during the presentation.
“One critical element that allowed this project to thrive was having multi-year funding. Because we were able to support and sustain the program through multiple rounds of implementation, it allowed us to collect feedback from teachers and iterate from Year 1 to Year 2. Another exciting outcome of the program was seeing student voice in action through the Food Advocacy Projects. By valuing our teachers’ curiosity, knowledge, and expertise in implementation, we saw that spark transfer to students and extend beyond the classroom. Students explored different issues in the food system then came up with unique and local action plans for ways they could impact their communities through this inquiry-driven project.”
Use AgEd lessons in your classroom!
Pilot Light wishes to thank everyone who attended and supported this event – it was energizing to meet with so many of our teachers and partners in one place and to share our research findings and the new AgEd & Advocacy lessons. We are so excited to share these lessons on our online Food Education Center – now, teachers everywhere looking to bring Agriculture Education to their students can easily do so through this free resource. Together, we believe we can cultivate food systems leadership for years to come.
Read more about this event on Local Food Forum.
AgEd & Advocacy was initially funded through a research grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Food and Service Learning Program. Thank you to everyone at the NIFA FASLP for your generous support!