The Wells Fargo Family Farm project started with the need to replace the aging Children's Zoo and to engage kids and families with animals and nature. As Minnesota Zoo staff visited with farmers and with urban, suburban, and rural students, we found that there is a lot of interest to explain and also to learn about how food gets from farms to tables.
Farmers have a responsibility to provide agricultural products and to protect natural resources.
The objective of the Wells Fargo Family Farm is to create a place for Minnesota Zoo visitors to become part of a community of people, plants and animals striving to maintain balance with nature. During the past 100 years, the world population and its demands on agriculture have increased dramatically. However, during this same period, the percentage of the population directly involved in agriculture has decreased. Advances in science and technology allow for more efficient and higher production to feed the rapidly growing human population. Farmers today are often as comfortable at the keyboard of a computer as they are at the steering wheel of a tractor.