News

Sharing their passion for agriculture.

By Katherine Doyle

Students from Dalhousie's Faculty of Agriculture will be travelling to Halifax to share their passion for agriculture. They will be hosting a Canadian Agricultural Literacy Day event co-sponsored with the Department of Agriculture at the Halifax Central Library from 2:00-3:30pm on Saturday March 12^th.

Morgan McNeil, a volunteer from last year’s Literacy event, is one of 12 students volunteering their time this Saturday to participate in this year's event.  

“The main reason I want to participate in Agriculture Literacy Week is I want to increase the agricultural teachings and interest in the public school system and in people from a young age to make the industry more secure in future generations,” she says.

“Many students that do not live on farms go through school without any agricultural education and that prevents them from considering a related career after graduation. The only way I got involved in agricultural activities was by joining the 4-H program. I want to contribute to agricultural awareness because we all need food to live and it's an extremely rewarding area of work.”

There will be various agriculture-related activities, as well as readings from "Explore Farming in Nova Scotia." These activities include:

Planting seeds – Learn to properly plant herbs

Plant Identification- Play a game where you must identify which type of the plant they are eating (i.e. – tomatoes are fruit, carrots are roots)

Animals- Learn how sheep and dairy cattle are cared for and learn that both these animals are ruminants. They will also learn more about the role of the rumen.

Making butter- Learn about dairy products and the basics of butter making while making butter yourself!

Each station will run for 15 minutes. The Kilted Chef will also be at the library making chili to celebrate the International Year of the Pulse. Every child who attends the event will go home with their very own copy of "Explore Farming in Nova Scotia."

Be sure to stop in and check out this “AGcellent” event.