Habersham students were delightedly informed this past Friday during Farm Day at the Habersham County Fairgrounds, where they learned about animals, agriculture, soil and all the other things that come together to build up farms and farming communities
Around 550 fourth-graders from Habersham County’s eight elementary schools attended the event sponsored by the Habersham County Farm Bureau and the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair.
From dairy cows to agricultural history, and from growing corn to electricity, Habersham’s fourth-graders were immersed in a learning experience that felt more like fun.
Local farmers, UGA agriculture students and agriculture educators congregated at the fairgrounds and set up learning stations, where students watched demonstrations, participated in hands-on activities and got to ask plenty of questions.
The experts answered some tough questions, too— like where chicken nuggets come from.
“What we want to do today is to let them [the students] understand the practicality of agriculture, that animals aren’t just pets,” says Gilbert Barrett, who serves as the president of the White County Farm Exchange, as well as an organizer for the Farm Day event. “That they’re really not pets, they’re production animals, and if it weren’t for sustainable production agricultural systems, we wouldn’t have food, clothing, shelter.”
In Georgia, one out of every seven people works in some kind of agriculture-related field, whether that’s working on a farm or working in agricultural research.
Agriculture is the number one industry in Habersham County.
Gilbert says that children should not only be familiar with where our food comes from, but with farming in general, with farms being such an integral part of Habersham’s economy and their day-to-day lives.
