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Expansion of Early Agricultural Education in Pennsylvania

When people hear the word agriculture, many automatically think of an old man

sitting on a tractor in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by crops or cows. The public

perception of agricultural science is that it only involves farming. However, while

farming and production are integral parts of the field, there are countless other industries

and disciplines that fit into this distinction. There are many misconceptions about the

agricultural sciences, many resulting from a lack of public discourse and education about

the field. By increasing early education about the agricultural sciences, our society can

produce a group of well-rounded and well-educated students who are more prepared to

tackle the problems facing our world today.

The problem at the heart of this lack of education about the agricultural sciences

in society is the public misconception of what exactly constitutes an agricultural science

and what the agricultural field encompasses. To further the goals of the agricultural

industry, it is important to educate all of society about what agricultural sciences actually

are. Agricultural sciences encompass all of the natural sciences that go into food and

fiber production. What many people don’t understand is that this field also includes the

social sciences that involve product use and any science that deals with inputs or outputs

of the system, especially regarding sustainability. This diversity opens up the industry to

a myriad of career opportunities in a large variety of disciplines.

A good example of this variety is to look at the United States Department of

Agriculture, or USDA. The USDA describes themselves as an organization that

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“provide(s) leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development,

nutrition, and related issues based on public policy, the best available science, and

effective management.” Within this very wide net, the organization has efforts dedicated

to topics ranging from biotechnology and climate change to recreation and trade, along

with classic agricultural subjects such as farming and food and nutrition. As can be

assessed, the agricultural field includes much more than many people think. This

includes a fairly large number of threats that are affecting Pennsylvania, the United

States, and the planet as a whole.

One of these threats is the growing concern about food security throughout the

world. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the

world population is estimated to reach 9.8 million people by the year 2050. We as a

society must find ways to improve our food production and distribution infrastructure in

order to feed this continuously growing planet. Today, there is enough food being grown

to support everyone. However, flaws in the distribution of and access to food is causing

hunger and shortages. As the world becomes more populated the current amount of food

may no longer be sufficient even if properly managed, and the infrastructure will be even

more strained. This growing population combined with climate change, environmental

stresses, and rising food prices around the world will come together to further threaten

food security (International Food Policy, n.d.). In addition to the management of food

production and distribution, there is also the area of physical production that we must be

concerned with. Around 25% of the workforce in the agriculture and food industry is

over the age of 55 (Daniels, 2015). This means that as this significant percentage of the
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current workforce ages into retirement, a growing number of positions will continuously

be available within the field. If these positions go unfilled, the world will continue to slip

in our struggle with global food security.

Another significant issue is the need to conserve and remediate the environment,

including water resources, soils, and habitats (Mercier, 2015). Water is necessary to

water crops and keep animals hydrated, as well as being commonly used in production.

Soil health and optimization is crucial for producing the highest possible yields of crop.

Habitat maintenance is significant in areas where product is harvested directly from their

outside habitat, such as in commercial fishing, as well as for achieving the best results in

artificial habitats in farming. While all of these areas directly relate to the agricultural

field in various ways, they also have a great impact of the world outside of the industry.

Water quality is vital to drinking water security and recreation across the world. Soils are

deeply intertwined with water and habitat health through physical and biological

interactions. All of these ideas are connected 0and can be tied to significant problems

that will affect the agricultural sector and the entire world.

The agricultural field also has a strong connection to public health. This is

because there is a significant portion of the field dedicated to maintaining the health of

animals, people, and the environment. Veterinary science is a part of the agricultural

field, and is vital to keeping food producing animals healthy, which is then passed on to

humans. Areas such as immunology are also focused on working to prevent infectious

disease from spreading through the food, animal, and human populations. These ideas tie

in closely with food science, which focuses on producing new food products as well as
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being more efficient in the use of food and prioritizing food safety (Penn State, n.d.).

Toxicology is another area within agricultural science, which deals with interactions

between chemicals, especially those produced by humans, and the environment. These

examples are simply a few of many different areas that focus on human and public health

while still being confined under the net of agricultural sciences.

As can be evidenced by the great amount of overlap between the main areas of

concern, agriculture is really an interconnected field that serves as a foundation for

everyday life. The world’s population relies on agricultural sciences. We as a society

must find a way to get more people interested in pursuing these extremely important

fields to ensure we do not fall behind. The best solution to this problem is to work on

building the agricultural efficacy and education of the general public. This can be done

by increasing education efforts targeted at a group who is already actively learning every

day: elementary school children.

The most effective and feasible way to encourage and promote this education is

by incorporating topics related to agricultural sciences into the current science

curriculum. The science curriculum in the state of Pennsylvania for primary and

elementary age groups currently focuses on four standard categories: Biological Sciences,

Physical Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Technology and Engineering Education

(Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2009). Many of these areas include sub-

standards that are related to agricultural sciences, but only one directly mentions the field.

In order to increase focus, engagement, and overall education about its importance,

Pennsylvania should adopt a fifth standard category, that of Agricultural Sciences.

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The creation of a new standard category would involve some addition to the

curriculum but focus on making slight alterations to those which already exist. The goal

should be to take existing standards from other categories and, with the help of some

additional standards, frame them in a way that emphasizes the critical importance of

agricultural sciences. For example, information about organisms, reactions, water,

earth’s resources, and biotechnology can all be discussed in terms of agriculture

(Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2009). When standards like these are

surrounded with the basic principles of food science, environmental science, or

immunology, they can be framed as what they are – critical to the field of agricultural

sciences. The goal is not to remove them from their original groups, but to bring

attention to the applicability within other areas, specifically those of the agricultural

science. The new standards should be targeted to focus on the three main problems

discussed previously: food security, conservation of natural resources, and public health

concerns. Ideas for these can be taken from the National Center for Education Statistics’

Classification of Instructional Programs standards, especially from the Agriculture and

Natural Resources areas, which include topics such as Ag Production, Horticulture,

Forestry, and Natural Resources (2010). Overall, the goal should be to incorporate

information that will provide youth with a greater knowledge base and prime them for

further study of agricultural sciences later in life.

This incorporation is part of what makes this plan feasible. This plan would not

require the hiring of teachers specific to the agricultural area of science, it simply requires

the incorporation of slightly different subject matter at a basic level into lessons and
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curriculum. There are many resources available to teachers involving basic curriculum

and activities surrounding the agricultural sciences. Organizations like the American

Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture have resources publicly available for teachers to

use in their classrooms. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s education branch even

sponsors a Mobile Ag Ed Science Lab, which is a “classroom on wheels” that travels to

city schools to teach about agricultural sciences (Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture

Foundation, n.d.). There are many resources available that would ease the transition to

this updated curriculum.

Many people see adjustments to curricula, especially those regarding more hands-

on fields such as the addition of agricultural sciences, as things that simply require too

much money to be feasible. However, it does not require much money to incorporate

basic introductory lessons into a classroom. It is not as if entirely new books must be

purchased. It is more along the lines of incorporating in a few new printed out activities

and adding more agricultural context in discussion. Secondly, there are many public and

nonprofit organizations that provide schools and districts with extra funding for pursuing

agricultural education. On the public side, the USDA has grants available through many

programs that help with the development of agricultural education in districts (Mercier,

2015). Many private organizations also have funding available, including the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation, Toyota Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and many other

endowed foundations and non-profits (Mercier, 2015). The small costs that would need

to be bared, as well as any additional funding for further enrichment in the topics, can be

largely covered by existing organizations.

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Another advantage of increased agricultural education is the integration of real

world applications into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM,

education. By teaching agricultural sciences as a part of the STEM field, as it should be

taught, it provides kids with a physical and tactile representation of what a STEM field is.

Where one cannot see an atom or the force of friction, it is easy to picture an animal or

plant. An integral part of making this initiative successful would rely on the emphasis on

the idea that agriculture is indeed STEM, even though they tend to be separated in

people’s thoughts (Monsanto, 2017). These connections can help get kids excited about

the STEM fields through hands-on learning and understandable applications. This

curriculum change can also be promoted to officials and parents as an increase in STEM

education, which would likely increase overall support.

This policy will greatly increase the average level of agricultural literacy of

society members. By introducing these topics as a required element of education at a

young age, many more children will become exposed to the problems facing our world.

The first step in getting involved is to become informed, and that is the overall goal of

this policy. Exposure to information is the only way to begin growing an interest in a

topic, and this change would increase exposure and promote the formation of

connections. By introducing students in elementary school to the wide breadth of the

agricultural field, we are encouraging open minded thought and better understanding in

the future.

By enacting this policy, we as a society will be able to not only bolster lifelong

knowledge and efficacy about agricultural sciences, but also increase the number of
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people entering the field. As more people learn about the field, more people will become

interested, and more people will enter the field as a career. We can’t recruit the best and

brightest to solve our problems if they never know that there is a problem to begin with.

The most important part of this policy enactment is that we focus on youth. Many

personal decisions involving feeling towards STEM in youth are made by age 11,

meaning that targeting education toward elementary school children is the best way to

ensure effective efforts and see results (Targeted Initiative, 2013). By increasing

knowledge, we can cause a domino effect that leads to more people joining the field.

Increased participation could be exactly what we need to make the next big ideas

become reality. More people means more ideas, those based on different experiences

and knowledge bases. The innovative ideas that are produced are exactly what must be

contributed in order to solve the problems facing the agricultural science field. New

ideas can lead to solutions as to how we can grow more useable food on decreasing

amounts of farmland. New ideas can become plans on how to limit ozone depletion by

altering chemical compositions of fossil fuel emissions. New ideas can develop plans of

action to address the spread of infectious disease.

By infusing the agricultural field with more people and knowledge through this

curriculum change, we will be able to speed up our progress and work toward tackling

our major problem areas. Through early education, we are able to plant a seed of

knowledge that will grow and flourish to produce fruits of solutions to the problems

facing our world in the field of agricultural sciences.

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Bibliography
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seekers.html

International Food Policy Research Institute. (n.d.). Food Security. Retrieved April 03, 2018,
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Monsanto. (2017, August 10). Lessons in Problem Solving: Modern Agriculture Education.
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National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). Classifications of Instruction Programs.

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Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation. (n.d.). Mobile Ag Ed Science Programs.

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participation in science and mathematics?’. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from
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United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs. (2017, June 21). World population
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United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). About the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda

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