“Bite into your cheese: it’s creamy, it’s smooth, and tingly on your tongue,” read Minister of Education Kelvin Goertzen to a classroom of grade 2 students at Elmdale School in Steinbach.

“Cheese is my favorite food!” shrieked one kid in reply.

March is recognized across Manitoba as Classroom Agriculture Literacy Month and, last Friday, Goertzen was a special guest with an organization called Agriculture in the Classroom. At this particular event, Goertzen read excerpts from a book entitled ‘How did That Get in My Lunchbox?’.

“We’re promoting the education of agriculture in classrooms,” notes Goertzen, who indicates that farming is not actually part of the standard curriculum in Manitoba. “Kids need to know that their food doesn’t come from the grocery store.”

This is the primary goal of Agriculture in the Classroom: to teach kids the process of how food gets onto their plates.

“We talk about where food comes from, how it is grown, and why the agricultural industry is important,” explains Sue Clayton, the Executive Director of Agriculture in the Classroom.

Clayton (far right) helps organize Agriculture in the Classroom events throughout Manitoba.

Clayton has recognized the gap in provincial education and says this program is a great way of filling it. “While agriculture is not technically part of the curriculum anywhere, there are many ways it can be woven in.”

Though Steinbach is a rural setting, Goertzen feels children are becoming further and further removed from the farming that used to define the local lifestyle. As if to prove this point, only two students raised their when asked how many of them had lived or helped on the farm.

“Those who are my generation or older have a closer connection to the farm than the young people of today,” offers Goertzen, “so it’s good to remind them and teach them cause they may not have the same hands-on experience.”

Clayton says her team has enlisted the help of 162 farmers and producers throughout the province who have agreed to come to various schools and classrooms and tell stories of their livelihoods. This team will present to roughly 7,900 students over the course of this month.

Goertzen admits that he himself will not be present for the majority of these presentations, but indicates Elmdale School does have a bit of a special place in his heart. “I used to go to Elmdale many many years ago, and I think the quality of students has definitely gone up since I was here, speaking only of myself of course,” he laughs.