WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF) helps students across Iowa understand where their food and fiber come from and how agriculture plays such an important role in the state’s economy. For a fifth year, Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, will be supporting these efforts for students to learn about food, science, and career options through agriculture.
Through this donation, Corteva Agriscience will be supporting teachers’ professional development workshops, student publications, lesson plan development, STEM festivals, a lending library, and other events and activities focused on increasing agriculture literacy.
“The new Iowa social studies educational standards that teachers are responsible have agriculture and farming written into them,” said Will Fett, executive director of IALF. “Agriculture can make learning core subject areas very practical. Nearly 1 in 5 jobs in Iowa is in the agriculture industry. We are helping prepare students to one day hopefully step into a career in the agricultural industry.”
Agriculture in the Classroom helps teachers connect core subject matter with agriculture by providing real world examples for their students. This K-12 program helps students understand the value and source of agriculture as it affects quality of life. This includes the science of food production, understanding how agriculture and the environment are intertwined, and how we can continue to improve agriculture practices to feed an ever-increasing world population.
“Food production and the agricultural economy is important to Iowans and Iowa-based businesses. Students and teachers will hopefully understand the vital role of agriculture in our economy,” said Morgan Hammes, Pioneer® communication specialist. “Supporting initiatives like this is important to us. We want bright, passionate, well-educated students to step into roles of science, technology, engineering, and of course, agriculture.”
— Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation
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