Fifth Agriculture Literacy Week will take place March 15-21

Volunteers from Virginia Farm Bureau and other agriculture organizations will read to children during the Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom program’s fifth annual Agriculture Literacy Week, March 15-21.

Volunteers from county Farm Bureaus, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Farm Credit of the Virginias, Colonial Farm Credit, Southern States, Tyson Foods, James River Equipment and several 4-H and FFA chapters, along with AITC board members and staff and Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board members and staff, will mark the week by reading books about agriculture to children across the state. Each year more than 50,000 children learn about agriculture, food and where their basic needs come from through the Agriculture Literacy Week initiative.

Many volunteers will read the 2015 Virginia AITC Book of the Year, My Virginia Plate, written by Tammy Maxey and illustrated by Greg Cravens and Kevin Pitts, and donate copies to school and classroom libraries. My Virginia Plate is a story of students learning about nutrition through preparing a Virginia-grown meal as part of a classroom assignment.

The children’s book was written to teach readers about nutrition and show how Virginia farmers produce a wide variety of foods that are a part of a healthy diet.

“With only a few weeks to go, we’ve already received orders for 1,100 books, and we are expecting more orders as the date gets closer,” said Maxey, who is Virginia AITC senior education program coordinator. “It is imperative that we teach the next generation the importance of agriculture in their daily lives. Agriculture Literacy Week is one tool in achieving our mission to connect children to agriculture.”

Virginia AITC is part of a nationwide effort to help teachers and students understand and appreciate agriculture, which is Virginia’s and the nation’s largest industry. The program provides training and materials to 2,000 educators each year, and its website atAgInTheClass.org provides teachers with Standards of Learning-aligned lesson plans, literacy activities and more. All AITC services are provided to teachers at no cost.

The AITC program is funded by donations received through the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.