For the Antigo Times

On October 13^th, the Antigo FFA hosted its annual Food for America program.

Food for America is a nationally recognized educational program focusing on agricultural literacy in elementary schools and communities. The program is developed to assist FFA members and all agricultural education students in leadership skill development as they reach out to youth, peers and their entire communities by sharing the world of agriculture.

This year, approximately 40 Antigo FFA members with the help of the Eric and Kristin Meyer and the Meyer Family invited the 3rd grade students of Antigo and surrounding communities to spend the day on a real working dairy farm to show and teach them not only about animals and life on a farm but where their food comes from as well.

Students rotated between nine stations and learned more about each how agriculture impacts each of their daily lives. The stations included: veterinary science, meat science, dairy production, calves, maple syrup production, the Spudmobile, equine science, nutrition and mechanics. All of the teaching at each station was done by current FFA members.

“It is a great opportunity for the older students to share their knowledge about farming and agriculture,” one FFA member expressed. “It also opens their eyes to the fact that many students aren’t aware of where their food comes from. This is an opportunity for our student leaders to share their knowledge with others. We hope the students benefitted from the time they spent on the farm and learned a little bit about how agriculture impacts them each day.”

A special thanks goes to Antigo FFA Alumni, Langlade County Dairy Promotions, Dana Rady and Jim Zdroik from WVPGA, Sippl’s Sap Shack, Culvers of Antigo, Organic Valley Dairy, and the Meyer Family for hosting the event this year.