On July 10 and 11, 2018 I helped out at The Surry County Extension Office in Dobson while they were hosting an “Ultimate Food Challenge” camp for elementary age children. The first day we went to a local produce farm called “The Farm” and on the way there I had the opportunity to ride with Horticulture Extension Agent Joanna Radford. When I asked about her job, she informed me that she holds pesticide classes, she does farm visits, homeowners will call her for horticulture assistance, she leads the VineDressers (grape growers association) group that meets 4 times a year, she plans programs for farmers during their less busy winter season at 0 to little cost, she also helps the Beekeepers Association that meets monthly, organized the Agventures Grant program and helps others with grants. She informs farmers of the many programs that the extension office has to offer through direct mailing, emails, and working with the local Farm Bureau.
Once we got to The Farm, the children learned about a working produce farm from owner Mayghan Watson and got to purchase the fresh produce they were going to need for their lunch!
We returned to the Extension Office and learned about food safety and to prepare Chicken & Spinach Pasta. I worked with one group of children to help them with basic kitchen skills. This was a team effort and each child participated. After enjoying their delicious lunch, they cleaned up and had a few fun team building activities.
The next day, Travis Love, a NCDA Poultry Inspector and Bryan Cave, Surry County Extension Director, talked to children about impact that poultry has on our local area and economy. We all learned that North Carolina is 1st in the nation in poultry production and there are 3 large companies locally that employ thousands of people. Surry County ranked 25th in the state for overall Agricultural sales, 12.9% of all jobs are related to Ag, Surry County has 1,258 farms with the average of 102 acres and an infrastructure investment of $662,000. The average farmers’ age is 60 and 1 farmer feeds 164 people.
After participating in some fun communication and food safety activities, it was time to get cooking again! Today children make Chicken Cheese & Pesto Quesadillas, 7 Layer Dip Burritos, and Healthy Fruit Pizza. My team of children worked hard and well together even though they had to go up and down to use a kitchen due to the building layout. We all enjoyed eating our lunch together and many children loved what they made, even though when they saw the ingredients they were hesitant.
