Farm Friday Lessons Teaching Crawford County Students About Food
ROBERTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Crawford County kids are expanding their culinary horizons with an hour long lesson at Dickey Farms. Farm Fridays is a class that introduces youngsters to new foods and new ways to eat.
The program is a yummy way to teach kids how the food on their plates gets to them.
Farm Fridays creators Andrea Seagraves starts off the class with a simple question.
“What is this?” “Tomato!” the kids shout.
“This is a spinoff in what I do in my classroom. We looked at all the things that Dickey’s would be selling throughout the summer,” Seagraves said. “We picked out nine commodities that we would highlight each week and then we have a lesson that is about each commodity.”
This Friday’s lesson focused on tomatoes. Each class starts with a daily question like how do tomatoes grow, when are they harvested, and where did they come from? The children made spaghetti sauce to take home with them.
“The children are learning where the foods originate from they’re learning different ways to prepare the foods, they’re tasting the foods,” Seagreaves said. “We call it our polite bites. Every child has to taste what we’re learning about. They don’t like it, they can spit it out.”
“Wwhat did you think of it?” 41NBC’s Amanda Castro asked. “I like it!” five-year-old Cierra Brooks said.
“I don’t like it!” nine-year-old Jaylon Ivey said.
“Its just opening up their little minds where they’ll want more to eat than maybe chicken fingers and french fries,” Seagraves added. “They’re learning there’s really great food out there that’s good for them.”
“Children think all the produce comes from Kroger or Piggly Wiggly and its just important for them to see that process behind how we got these foods here in our country, how to prepare them, the health benefits,” Jennifer Andrews, a parent who brings her seven children to Farm Fridays, said.
“Its bringing awareness to the children about what they’re putting in their bodies and giving them some smarts about healthy choices they can make,” Seagraves said.
Seagraves has won state and national awards for her program. She says the key is to make agriculture a hands on experience.
The program is free and it is for students ages five to ten. There are three more lessons scheduled for the summer. If you’re interested in signing your child up, call Dickey Farms at (478) 836-3136.
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