BROOME CO., N.Y. — Reading and ice cream will create a sweet combination of agricultural education for more than 1,200 Broome County students this week. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County has organized Zoom events with young readers from eight local schools as part of NY’s annual Ag Literacy Week. Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, will join farmers, FFA and 4-H members, and other agriculture professionals across the state in reading this year’s Ag Literacy Week book: Chuck’s Ice Cream Wish (Tales of the Dairy Godmother). A hands-on lesson educational experience will accompany the reading.
“‘Where does our food come from?’ This simple question has helped spur the renewed interest in local foods we’ve seen in recent years,” Lupardo said. “Ag Literacy Week brings that question home to some of our youngest consumers, helping them develop a lifelong appreciation for our farmers and processors. I appreciate CCE Broome’s ongoing efforts to build a strong farm economy in the Southern Tier with activities like this.”
“The future of agriculture depends on the next generation,” said Beth Roberts, Executive Director of CCE Broome. “It is important that we teach our children about where their food comes from, how it is raised and how far it travels. Inspiring our young students to consider agriculture as a career to meet the needs of tomorrow.”
Assemblywoman Lupardo will be reading to students in the Union-Endicott School District, one of the eight participating schools. Chuck’s Ice Cream Wish takes students on an explorative journey to learn about dairy and trace food back to its source – the farmer. Following the story, students will get to make their own ice cream with kits provided by CCE Broome in advance of the lesson. This book and lesson are fitting for this year’s Ag Literacy Week as dairy is one of the top agricultural sectors in New York. The state is home to more than 4,000 dairy farms and ranks fourth nationally as the largest producer of milk.
–The Office of Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo
For more articles out of New York, click here.