Bring ag experiences to kids

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Curious cattle think their thoughts as they gather along an electric pasture fence. Schools with Farm to School programs can partner with farmers to provide learning that gives memorable farm experience to students.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A sign and nearby tractor alert travelers to the location of the Hunger Task Force Farm in Franklin, Wisconsin. Some schools partner with urban farms to provide annual field trips with hands-on agricultural experiences.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A hen turns a sharp eye to finding a tasty morsel. Some schools provide students with experience caring for farm animals through a Farm to School program.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

An assortment of squash waits to be transformed into meals. Food produced as part of a Farm to School garden can be incorporated into healthy offerings in school nutrition programs.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Esme Martinson holds her favorite hen at Turner Road Farm near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Often farmers partner with nearby schools to provide hands-on farm experiences for students.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Grain and fodder are displayed at a northern-Wisconsin county fair. Many know 4-H, the National FFA Organization and the Grange offer agricultural experience to students. But fewer know of Farm to School. Visit dpi.wi.gov/school-nutrition/farm-to-school for more information.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Freshly dug spuds fill the hands of a young farmer. Farm to School gardens at Wisconsin schools provide hands-on experiences that help students learn the origin of the food on their lunch plates.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Evening chores are a family affair on most Wisconsin farms. Though we who grew up farming take our intimacy with land, plants and animals for granted, our experience is now a rarity. Farm to School programs in more than 1,500 schools in Wisconsin help link students with agriculture.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Lush plants grow on racks under special grow lights at Wisconsin’s largest hydroponic farm, Hundred Acre in Milwaukee. Farm to School programs can link with farms to provide experience that leads to careers in agriculture. Visit hundred-acre.org for more information.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Healthy plants grow on multi-level racks at Hundred Acre in Milwaukee. Schools can incorporate similar racks into indoor Farm to School gardens.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Students sell plants at a northern-Wisconsin farm market – plants they grew in a gardening program. Other Farm to School programs purchase food from local farms to serve at schools.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Learning to grow plants and produce food is an important element of Farm to School programs in Wisconsin schools.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-view

Blossoming tomato plants climb as they reach for the sun in a greenhouse.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-view

Flowers and vegetable plants grow in an outdoor garden. Farm to School gardens are found anywhere space permits – outdoor plots, raised beds over concrete, greenhouses and even indoor hydroponic racks.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

An ersatz cow stands on Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin. There was a time when many students came no closer to a farm than such statues. But with Farm to School programs in Wisconsin schools, more than half a million students each year are being linked to hands-on experiences in agriculture.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

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Where will we find the next generation of farmers? How can we help more young people become interested in agriculture? We hear those questions frequently, but we don’t often hear answers. In Wisconsin there is an answer to those frequent questions; it’s a pathway that connects students to farming.

Jason Maloney mug — Jason Maloney and Red

Jason Maloney is an “elderly” farm boy from Marinette County, Wisconsin. He’s a retired educator, a retired soldier and a lifelong Wisconsin resident. He lives on the shore of Lake Superior with his wife, Cindy Dillenschneider, and Red, a sturdy loyal Australian Shepherd.