Agricultural education on the rise

CropLife Ambassador Network reaches 25,000 youth

Over 25,000 youth were enlightened about modern agriculture from industry professionals in one hour face-to-face classroom discussions over the last 5 years due to the efforts of the CropLife Ambassador Network, the educational outreach program of Mid America CropLife Association. With rising food costs and the rising demand for agriculturally based fuel, the need for consumer education is also rising and MACA is committed to meeting this need.

CAN supports Midwest Ambassadors with presentation materials and handles all marketing to 4th - 6th grade educators. Our presentation resources and coordination services are available to all in the agricultural industry across the Midwest. Additional ambassadors are welcome and can join from our website, http://ambassador.maca.org.

Our fall campaign to connect Ambassadors with students has started and schools in the following cities will be hosting our program with more to come.

--Colorado: Aurora;

--Iowa: Des Moines;

--Illinois: Canton, Peoria;

--Indiana: Indianapolis, Martinsville, New Albany;

--Michigan: Whitehall, Saginaw, Concord;

--Missouri: Smithville, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit;

--North Dakota: Fargo;

--Ohio: Liberty Township, Hilliard, Columbus, Hamilton.

Our program is currently available in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. Ambassadors are still needed in South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Educators can request from six different programs our Ambassadors speak on by visiting our website http://ambassador.maca.org.

America's Abundance: Explores technology's role in an abundant and safe food supply.

--Farm Fueled: All about biofuels.

--Feeding Planet Earth: An economic and global look at agriculture.

--Stewards of the Land: Conserve soil, protect water, control chemicals and preserve wildlife.

--Careers Across the Spectrum: Whether one wants to be self employed, a scientist, a writer, a businessman or farmer agriculture provides these opportunities and more.

--War of the Weeds: Explores the challenge of weed control and the history of technological advances from human labor, mechanical advances and scientific methods used by humans to solve the problem.

"We take the footwork out of consumer education," said Janet Braun, CAN Program Coordinator. "We understand the time constraints of those in our industry so our program allows ambassadors to devote their time to education, not background work. It's the ambassador's decision as to the amount of time he/she contributes."

An ambassador sums it up best:

CropLife Ambassador Network volunteer teacher Kevin Kilgus, Helena Chemical Company, Strawn: "I feel I need to be a voice to the next generation of agriculturists. The CAN program gives me the opportunity to do just that--to present the benefits of American agriculture in a positive and accurate light. Every time I get the opportunity to do a CAN presentation I have the ability to encourage young people to look at the benefits that we enjoy in America due to the abundance and quality of our food supply. To be able to see the lights "turn on" in a child's eye is truly rewarding. My only complaint is that I can't do it nearly as often as I would like!"

10/20/08
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Date: 10/10/08

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