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Medina County Farm Bureau members, along with the Medina County SWCD and other agencies, are working to educate their urban neighbors about the importance of agriculture.

"Medina County is like many counties that abut metropolitan areas. It is fast losing valuable farmland to urban sprawl," said John Fitzpatrick, OFBF organization director for Ashland, Medina and Wayne counties. "Medina, however has realized that the agricultural community cannot compete economically with the demand for suburban land. So instead, the Medina County Farm Bureau has pursued a philosophy of educating the new neighbors as consumers of both commodities and of the pleasant rural surroundings of their new home."

Medina County FB uses events like an annual Fall Foliage Tour, the county fair, the home and garden show, Earth Day, Food Check-Out Day, Leadership Medina and others to teach the urban relocatees about the source of their food and fiber. It also lets them know about the irreplaceable value of farms for the aesthetic value of their daily lives and the increasing value of their properties.

This year’s Fall Foliage Tour will be Oct. 12 and 13. Medina County FB’s Promotion and Education Committee will enhance the tour by teaching people about what they view on the self-drive tour. Farmers readily volunteer to let the drivers stop and visit; educational stations are set up to inform people about the commodities or livestock produced on the farm.

"These visits tremendously increased the popularity of the tour and, today, literally thousands of people gain knowledge about the sources of their food and fiber," Fitzpatrick said.