ONEIDA CO., N.Y. — This year’s Agricultural Literacy Week feature book, “Farmer Allen and the Growing Table” will be arriving at all 15 Oneida County School Districts in March, thanks to the generous donation from the Oneida County Farm Bureau. Now in its 17th Year, Ag Literacy Week will continue to bring agriculturally themed books to kindergarten through third grade classrooms. This year reaching 78 classes and over 1,400 students in just Oneida county alone.
This book will take K-3rd grade students on an explorative journey through community gardening and inspire them to build communities through food. The book’s feature character, Will Allen, is no ordinary farmer. A former basketball star, he’s as tall as his truck, and he can hold a cabbage, or a basketball, in one hand. But what is most special about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can’t see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world. No space, no problem. Poor soil, there’s a solution. Need help, found it. Farmer Will is a genius in solving problems.
The author, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, tells the inspiring story of an innovator, educator, and community builder. Combined with artist Eric-Shabazz Larkin’s striking artwork, readers share Will Allen’s optimism and determination to bring good food to every table. “Farmer Allen and the Growing Table” also showcases the unique diversity of agricultural operations especially applicable to New York’s combination of rural, suburban, and urban landscapes.
Virtual and in-person readers are available. Members of the Oneida County Farm Bureau will again be volunteer as readers and will engage your students in a paired hands-on activity related to the book. The book will then be available in the school library and through the Mid York Library System.
Is your school interested in bringing FREE hands-on STEM based educational programing to your Classrooms, Summer Rec Programs, or Afterschool Programs? Get more information, contact the Ag in the Classroom Educator, at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County 315-736-3394.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County
