Agriculture Literacy Week expands to month

Canadian Agriculture Literacy Week has expanded to become Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month. Agriculture in the Classroom - Canada (AITC-Canada), representing eight provincial organizations, will participate for the sixth year in a newly expanded format in schools across Canada for the month of March.

The P.E.I. Agriculture Sector Council and the P.E.I. Agriculture Awareness Committee are the Island ambassadors for Agriculture in the Classroom. The groups have several activities planned for the month. Reading Week will be March 6 to 9, when producers and industry members will be visiting Grade 3 classrooms across P.E.I. Agriculture Adventure Days will happen March 28 and 29.

Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM) is a hands-on program that encourages children to learn about and celebrate agriculture in various ways, including reading books about farming, watching videos and meeting with farmers and others in the agriculture industry. Building an awareness for students on the connection they have to local farmers and agriculture industry representatives is important to the success of CALM.

“Our Food. Our Story” is this year’s theme. AITC-Canada organizations will deliver to over 30,000 students in over 800 classrooms across Canada in March. AITC-Canada will also offer a live-stream webinar entitled “Trashing Food Waste with Technology.” Teachers and students will be able to view this presentation with Jessica Brady, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, who have developed Arctic Apple (www. arcticapples.com). An exciting, new initiative will encourage producers, industry members, and students to share their food story on Twitter using #MyFoodStory #CALM17, and includes the opportunity to win cash prizes.

“Due to increasing demand by schools to participate, AITCCanada is thrilled to expand this important event from a week to a month,” said Johanne Ross, AITC-Canada executive director.

“This gives us to the opportunity to spend further time celebrating and sharing the Canadian agriculture story to more students, in more schools. “In Canada, many families are two or three generations away from the farm. CALM provides an opportunity to help young Canadians understand the importance and value of agriculture to their lives and their communities.”