SAY CHEESE - Dairy Princesses Maia Bartlet, Allie Eldeen, and McKenna Eichorn were in charge of the cheese throwing station at Acres of Pizza.
Acres of learning
Mon, 07/17/2023 - 12:36pm
On-and-off showers didn’t stop families from experiencing the wonders of pizza at Farmamerica’s second annual Acres of Pizza event June 24 from 11 - 3 p.m. While tram rides and Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm’s food truck continued outside, the booths and stations were moved indoors, where children and families were able to learn more about the connection between home and farm.
“Acres of Pizza is a celebration of one of our favorite foods; we look at how it ties back into agriculture,” explained Jenny Delnay, program director at Farmerica, as she listed all the stations.
At Acres of Pizza, children could extract DNA from tomatoes and take it home, experience a tomato and cucumber tasting at Bushel Boy’s booth, examine a model pig barn brought by the Minnesota Pork Board while eating pepperoni, grind wheat into flour, take home a basil seed to plant. Following a recent viral internet trend, one booth offered participants the chance to “throw cheese,” that is, to toss a slice of cheese at a target and see whether it would stick.
Delnay says it’s the mission at Farmamerica to tell the evolving story of agriculture, and connecting young visitors to agriculture through one of their favorite foods is a fun way to do it.
“It’s really amazing when you talk to kids and they don’t believe they’re connected to agriculture at all,” Delnay said.
She explained that some children think pizza just comes from the store. They don’t realize the crust is made from wheat, tomatoes, and other crops that must be grown, and the milk for cheese comes from cows.
“There are all these connections people don’t see happening,” Delnay explained. “It’s important to realize agriculture is still central to your life even though you aren’t living on a farm.”
One way that Farmamerica is doing this is through its new interactive exhibit, “Ag Around You.” Located in the visitors' building, the exhibit allows folks to walk through a small model home and learn where different elements of their everyday life connect with agriculture and the farm.