Lodi Winegrape Commission creates bingo game to promote sustainability
The Lodi Wine Grape Commission has created an interactive and educational game to teach youngsters, and maybe even adults, about sustainable farming.
Stephanie Bolton, the commission’s education director, created “Sustainability Bingo” with the help of commission member Suzanne Lebetter as part of the organization’s LODI RULES sustainable winegrowing program.
The idea to create the game began last year, Bolton said, when several people began encouraging the commission to create something that would get younger generations interested in the agricultural industry and sustainability.
“Everyone always asks me ‘Stephanie, show me sustainability,’” Bolton said. “And I thought ‘how could I actually do that?’ The average consumer has a hard time understanding what it means, but here in Lodi, it’s in our blood.”
So Bolton came up with the idea of having a scavenger hunt, and created bingo playing cards with agricultural icons such as a farmer, a lake, the recycling triangle, an olive tree, or flowers.
The cards can be picked up at the Lodi Wine and Visitor Center, the WOW Museum, or the Lodi Boys and Girls Club, along with a pencil and map of Lodi wine country.
Families can then drive around wine country and try to spot the icons on the card.
On the reverse side of the card, participants can write down other types of food or agricultural products they may see that are not part of the bongo game.
“We needed something familyfriendly, COVID-friendly, and gets people away from their Zoom meetings and computer screens for a while,” Bolton said. “And, I always
liked travel bingo games when I was younger. I think it’s a lot of fun for families.”
When one marks off a bingo icon, Bolton said the hope is that children will then ask their parents what makes a dog — one of the icons — part of sustainable farming.
If the parents don’t know, Bolton said someone at one of the area’s wineries will surely be able to explain.
The dog, for example, is the farmer’s friend, she said. He takes care of the farmer’s mental health and accompanies the farmer when he goes to check water quality or levels in the vineyard.
“I wanted (the card) to be simple,” Bolton said. “I wanted it to be beautiful to look at. But I also wanted the things on the card to be understood, and that kids would see that sustainability is all around us.”
Some 1,200 cards have been printed with the LODI RULES logo, and another 500 have been printed with the CALIFORNIA RULES logo that families can pick up.
The pencils that accompany the cards have a second purpose related to sustainability as well. Where the pencil’s eraser should be are various plant seeds, and children can stick that end of the pencil in the ground to grow sunflowers, daisies, cherry tomatoes, and other plants, Bolton said.
Currently, the game is available only through the month of April in celebration of Earth Day.
But if the game proves popular, Bolton said the commission and LODI RULES will keep cards supplied at its various pick up spots throughout the year.
In addition, LODI RULES may create additional interactive games, and Bolton said anyone with ideas can contact her at 209-367-4727 or “Our farmers, many of them are paying to be certified sustainable and paying to be audited,” Bolton said.
“The number one reason they’re doing that is because they want to leave something for the next generation. We want to get more young people involved in the ag industry so they can propel us into modern farming.”
For more information about LODI RULES, visit www.lodirules.org. For more information about the bingo scavenger hunt game, visit www.lodigrowers.com/event/sustainability-bingo.