Date: Fri 26-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

traveling-farm-St-Rose

Full Text:

with photos: The Day A Farm Came To St Rose School

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

Clutching apples and wearing stickers that read, "I Farmed Today!" St Rose

students left the Parish House last Tuesday feeling all the wiser to know

tacos, pizza, and candy were created from products raised on a farm.

The Traveling Farm is a fast-paced, interactive program for students in grades

1 to 3 sponsored by the Connecticut Farm Bureau Women's Committee. It was

established a year ago by the committee's state chair Alyce Block of Monroe to

help children learn where their food comes from and the importance of

agricultural products in their lives.

It all began with children resting their heads on the table and a rooster

waking them to morning at the farm.

"What did you eat yesterday that didn't come from a farm?" asked the program

leader of Barbara Urbanski's third grade class.

"Peanut butter... Cereal... Pancakes... A bagel with cream cheese... Rice

Crispies... Sugar... Pizza... French fries...," the children responded when

called on. Mrs Block explained the ingredients in each that came from a farm.

Pancakes, for example, were made of wheat that is grown on a farm, eggs that

come from the poultry ("or chicken") barn, and milk from the dairy barn.

Each student then took a basket, which they filled with some "products" from

the farm - an apple, egg, dairy product container, vegetable, and fish. They

named three things that could be made with something from each area of

agriculture. The children played a game that encouraged them to make the

connection between foods and farming.

Mrs Block added there are other farm products that are equally as important as

food, such as cotton, wool, leather, and medicines that come from animals. And

careers relating to farming are much more extensive than those working the

land.

"Even though there are less farms in the state, Connecticut is producing much

more because of the efficient use of the land, and because of technology,"

said Mrs Block. "Forty years ago a farm would feed eight or nine people; now

one farm feeds 128 people."

St Rose Principal Donna DeLuca sat in on the program and commended Mrs Block

for being able to engage 30 children "in a topic so basic," in a way that made

it meaningful to them.

Of the many small gifts given to the students during the 45-minute program,

the one that sparked the most interest was a pot of soil in which Mrs Block

planted string bean seeds.