Why Agriculture Education Should Be a Requisite in Today’s High Schools
By: Kelsey Weakland
Tags: Ag Ed, Agriculture, Farming, Schools, Requirements

Why Agriculture Education Should Be a Requisite in Today’s High Schools

In today’s world, nearly everything is at our fingertips with the help of technology. From knowledge to online shopping, you can get a lot done with a smart phone. One of those being food! Nearly every restaurant offers an app, where you can place an order to be picked up or for delivery. With food being so easily accessible, it doesn’t often cross ones mind where that food came from or how it got there. Such a simple question, yet most couldn’t answer it. If more people were educated in the agriculture field, they would have a general idea of where and how their food came about.

In today’s education system, our students are being asked to learn and memorize topics such as…

-the periodic table of elements

- Pi

-the names of the U.S. presidents

-types of rocks

While we may think all these topics are important for our youth to learn, they aren’t more important than agriculture. Yet we see little to no requirements about agriculture education.

A majority of today’s high schoolers would be able to explain the process of photosynthesis in great detail to you but, they more than likely couldn’t tell you where their own food comes from and how it’s made. Inner city high schoolers need the education most, as they don’t come face to face with agriculture like rural students do. Rural teens are also more apt to take agriculture electives because they see it in their day to day lives, spiking the interests of the students.

Consequences of Agriculture Illiteracy

Why should everybody, even the most inner city people, have a good knowledge of agriculture? The agriculture illiteracy of the average American adult is at an all time high. Agriculture illiteracy is defined as not possessing the knowledge and understanding of our food and fiber system that keeps our country running. Because of this, concepts like genetically modified organisms and ranching practices are blown out of proportion. People all across America are following a gluten free diet, but couldn’t tell you what gluten is or why they must avoid it, ask Jimmy Kimmel.

Like gluten, GMO’s are also often misunderstood, the majority of people don’t know what GMO stands for! Millions of people are under the assumption that they shouldn’t eat genetically modified organisms because they believe they are allergic to them. Little do they know, changing the genetics of an organism does not affect the allergens. It is baffling people on the agriculture side how uneducated these people are. When people are raised in the inner city with no exposure to agriculture, and no requirements to learn about agriculture, we must face the repercussions.

Knowing The Basics

People should know the basics of where their food comes from, how its grown, harvested, and processed. People would understand what exactly is going into their body, helping people make smarter and safer eating habits. They will realize why fruits and veggies are better for your body than over processed food, helping with our obesity rates in the United States.

Another pro of agriculture education is that once people understand the effort and heart farmers put into their products, they will have a greater appreciation for each meal, fabric, or product they have. People would understand how vital agriculture is to our existence, giving our farmers and ranchers the credit they deserve. People have slowly become disconnected from agriculture, making them look down upon farmers instead of praising them. It is time we change that.

We also need agriculture education to expand the reach of agricultural based careers. Our population is ever growing, and to keep all these people fed, we will need to increase the productivity of our foods. Once again, inner city children may never be exposed to career paths involving agriculture, mainly because it is not seen as a necessity where they are. How are we supposed to expand our reach without people even knowing about all the possibilities careers in the agricultural field will offer to you?

Working in the agricultural field doesn’t mean you are, literally, in a field. There are many other job opportunities such as…

Farm accountants/farm managers

seed sales

equipment sales

equipment mechanics

agriculture teachers

and so much more!

People don’t realize how many job areas are directly involved with agriculture, and how big of a part they play in feeding America.

Wrapping Up

Agriculture education is so much more than farming and ranching. Knowing where your food comes from is a simple yet vital piece of information everybody should know, more vital than knowing the types of rock. (Sorry science teachers!) It’s time we start teaching our high schoolers about subjects they will use throughout their life, and that we are letting our students explore all career options.

It is time agriculture education becomes a requisite in high schools across our country, because there is no country without agriculture.