GUYTON — After visiting Honey Ridge Agricenter on Oct. 12, USDA Southeast Regional Administrator Willie Taylor is convinced that it is a fruitful spot for good food and education.
“I’m sure the unique experience the students get here is not the normal,” Taylor said.
Honey Ridge Agricenter is a 324-acre farm owned and operated by the Effingham County School District. It was acquired in 2016 and has become one of the focal points of agriculture education in the county.
The agricenter is used for numerous events, including annual first-grade tours for the district’s elementary schools, the Fall Farm Festival and Spring Fling Farm Day, as well as STEM/STEAM activities.
Healthy leafy vegetables and other commodities are also produced at the site for use in school lunchrooms.
“This is not the normal in a positive way,” Taylor said.
Taylor is accustomed to seeing small gardens at individual schools, not large farm operations that involved students planting and caring for crops and livestock
“Students get an opportunity here that they may not necessarily get at other places,” Taylor said. “Hay rides, feeding the cattle and things of that nature are atypical at Farm to School-type setups with our schools.”
Taylor and three other USDA officials visited the agricenter in recognition of National Farm to School Month and National School Lunch Week. State School Nutrition Director Dr. Linette Dodson, Farm to School Specialist Holly Thaw and Area Consultant Michele Wright of the Georgia Department of Education were also on hand for the occasion.
Taylor oversees USDA lunch and breakfast programs in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. He said he encourages locally grown products for students to eat because they are tastier and fresher.
“This is a consummate location in terms of showcasing what Farm to School is for the USDA,” Taylor said. “This would be the ideal situation.”
The USDA’s FY2022 Farm to School grant program awarded more than $10 million to 123 projects across the country to schools, school districts, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, Indian tribal organizations and agricultural producers to plan, train or implement Farm to School programs. The Farm to School projects will serve more than 3 million children at more than 5,000 schools in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
Taylor and the other high-ranking guests got to observe Marlow Elementary School first graders in action during a tour of the farm. Stops include a grain bin, livestock feeding, a planting session in a garden, a hay ride and more.
At the grain bin, Effingham County High School student Josh Kleckauskas taught the young students about how it operates. He patiently answered questions before firing up an oxy acetylene torch to show how it cuts metal.
South Effingham Middle School eighth graders Athalia Erickson and Alicia Backlund offered instruction about the parts of plants. They were surprised to learn that the students were familiar with terms like “stamen,” the male fertilizing organ of a flower.
Dodson and Thaw planted cabbage with the excited first graders. The state officials were impressed by the students learning about how food makes its way from the farm to the table.
“It’s what we call an ecosystem,” Taylor said. “It makes sure that students understand where food comes from and how it ends up in their tummy.”
