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A couple months ago, Mandy Orahood (Farm Bureau organization director), and myself visited a local elementary school to do story time with a farmer. As Farm Bureau members, as well as farmers, we enjoy being able to share our story. Not only are we able to give students and teaches a glimpse into the daily life on a farm, but we also are able to bridge the gap between farm to table and where food comes from. In addition, we are able to share why we are with Farm Bureau and all that it does for agriculture and the community.

During our time at the school, we worked with two groups of students. Those students in pre-K 3 and 4 were read a story about what is in their lunchbox, which basically broke down all of the common lunch foods, and traced them back to the farm. With this group we also did an activity where the student had to pair a food into a lunchbox category such as protein, carbohydrate, etc. As farmers, we were able to answer a lot of questions pertaining to our animals, their care and diet, among many other things pertaining to them.

Next, we moved onto kindergarten through third grade. These students were read a story on dairy farming that took the students step by step into all of the work that must be done every day, at least twice per day, before any dairy products such as ice cream can even be thought of. This story helped to teach the students about all it takes to care for animals and how we must be patient and put in a lot of effort before we can see a reward. Although the students seemed to enjoy the story, I think what they enjoyed most was getting to make their own ice cream. We broke the students down into smaller groups and each group made ice cream, that they were able to enjoy after.

Not only does sharing our story with students help them to better understand where their food comes from, and the farmers behind the farms, but hopefully they are able to carry a message and memories with them throughout their life. Even as farmers ourselves, there are some things on the farm that we are even unsure of, so to able to better explain farming to those with no experience in it really is an educational topic that we enjoy sharing.

In case you ever want to try to make homemade ice cream, here is the recipe:

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup rock salt
1 quart freezer bag
1 gallon freezer bag
Crushed ice

Put milk, whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in 1 quart freezer bag. Seal the bag and tape it. Place this bag inside a gallon freezer bag and put crushed ice around it, with 1 cup of salt poured over. Zip and tape this bag, and wrap in a towel to shake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove the inner bag, and enjoy the ice cream. (This should make about 3 cups of ice cream).

Enjoy.

Submitted by Julianne Holler, a member of the Trumbull County Farm Bureau board of trustees.

OFBF Mission: Working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities.