Progress report for EDS24-059
Project Information
The purpose of this project is to teach Texas farmers how to host successful, educational youth programming on their farm by co-developing a comprehensive handbook and field testing its contents. The vision for the Farm-Based Education Handbook stems from direct inquiries from Texas farmers looking for support in expanding their offerings. This handbook will be co-developed by the Texas Center for Local Food (TCLF) and a team of diverse Texas farmers who represent a range of backgrounds and skill sets, including those new to farm-based education and those who already run successful programing. The team will craft the learning objectives, content outline, and review the handbook at different points of completion.
The Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook will guide curious, community-minded farmers through a step-by-step process in creating successful farm-based education events. These events may include field trips, summer camps, and more. Handbook contents will be informed by farmer feedback, but we expect to include three sections: (1) Youth engagement strategies, (2) Farm exploration curriculum, and (3) Sample recipes. Our goal is to build an easily customizable curriculum broad enough to cover different operational farm types and regions across Texas. The curriculum will be modular, and accommodating to farms with limited resources, as lessons will not require specialized equipment or materials beyond common farm and household items. The handbook will also cover how to connect with student/youth groups, practical marketing tips, and example outreach materials. The handbook will be informed by, and complimentary to, two introductory Agritourism business courses on TXFED.org, TCLF’s online learning network.
The Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook contributes to two of SARE’s sustainability pillars: profitability and quality of life. Farm-based education is a valuable opportunity for farmers to generate revenue, diversify income streams, and build community connections.
Farmers will be actively engaged throughout the process; TCLF hosted one field day gathering, reaching approximately 25 farmers to evaluate and improve the contents of the Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook. The field-day gathering was held at Hope Full Farm and included educational opportunities for farmers interested in learning how to host youth programs and wondering where to start. At the field day , we gathered feedback from participants on the accessibility and applicability of the handbook’s curriculum.
Throughout the project, TCLF will conduct outreach to disseminate the handbook and share lessons learned to a broader audience of Texas farmers and educators, reaching at least 100 people before the project end date. The final version of the handbook will be a PDF download in Spanish and English, available for purchase at a sliding scale of $20-30.
Equity is a critical part of our mission and has been intentionally designed into all of our programs. For the Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook, we will center diversity, equity, and inclusion in several ways: ensuring engagement and participation of historically underserved producers, prioritizing Spanish translation and outreach, ensuring the handbook and promotional materials follow accessibility standards, and covering materials, examples, and considerations for a diversity of farms and ranches.
- Collaboratively develop a Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook with a team of four Texas farmers.
- Host one field day gathering reaching an expected 25 farmers to evaluate and improve the contents of the Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook.
- Conduct outreach to disseminate the handbook and share lessons learned to a broader audience of Texas farmers and agricultural educators, reaching at least 100 people before the project end date.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor - Producer
- - Producer
- - Producer
- - Producer
Education
The creation of the Farm-Based Education Handbook is a collaborative process designed to make a final product that is relevant and useful to producers and educators across Texas. Our collaboration methods include the use of a Topic Team to develop content and a Field Day event to promote the handbook and gather feedback on the first draft of the project. The contents of the handbook emphasize community building, engaging curriculum, and sustainable business strategies. The project encourages collaboration between educators, farmers, and communities, highlighting the importance of Farm-Based Education in creating a sustainable food system future.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
The outreach for the Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook began by asking producers about their interest and assembling producers interested in being part of a Topic Team. Topic Teams are a group of subject matter experts who work with TCLF to build educational materials and programming. We began using Topic Teams in the development of our successful collaborative training site, TXFED.org (a USDA Agricultural Marketing Service project), and have continued to refine and improve that process over the past two years. Typically, assembling a Topic Team involves TCLF staff reaching out to professional contacts, including producers, who have experience around a particular subject. We have assembled a team of 4 Topic Team members, two of whom are experienced in farm-based education, and two of whom are producers hoping to introduce educational programming on their farms. We’ve included producers with little to no experience hosting farm-based education programs, as we’ve found it is useful to have the target audience’s perspective while developing educational courses and materials. Half of our Topic Team members will identify as BIPOC to promote diverse perspectives in the creation of the handbook content.
Farmers interested in collaborating on the Texas Farm-Based Education Handbook have expressed their passion for how the “bond between communities and food growers fosters food system resilience” and their commitment to “reconnecting our Texas communities to our farmlands and building thriving local food systems” (see Letters of Support, below). Our Topic Team members include folks with a range of farm-based education experiences, and they all share the dedication to build sustainable food system futures through youth education and community building.
The Topic Team will meet at least five times virtually throughout the development process: 1) orientation, 2) defining learning objectives, 3) reviewing the outline, 4) pre-certification, and 5) final certification. In between, TCLF staff do behind-the-scenes work of building out handbook content including lesson plans, worksheets, and recipes. The Topic Team will also do some asynchronous work to develop the content of the handbook. The Co-PI manages the Topic Team and structures the content with feedback from producers.
Our Farm-Based Education Field Day was an opportunity to test handbook contents with small and mid-sized Central Texas producers who are interested in implementing farm-based educational programming. We began promoting the event two months prior, with the Co-PI creating promotional materials and a free registration page. We also developed a “promo kit” with sample newsletter and social media language and graphics for the field day. Then, we worked with our existing grant partners and allied organizations to share the event with their networks, specifically targeting groups working with historically underserved audiences. Overall, we have a strong network of Texas farmers and farm support organizations who regularly cross-promote programming.
Hope Full Farms, an Austin-area farm in the early stages of establishing its youth programming, hosted our field day. We hosted around 25 farmers and educators at the event, which is typical for on-farm events in the area. The event entailed group discussions, peer-to-peer learning, a farm tour, a cooking demonstration, and icebreaker games. It was an opportunity to learn by doing - attendees learned student engagement strategies by participating in activities that they could facilitate with youth on their own farms.
Once we have a final published version of the handbook, we will do another round of outreach with our partners using similar strategies as the field day. Additionally, we will host a virtual webinar about the handbook, conduct a presentation at the 2026 Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (TOFGA) Conference (usually in January or February), post the final version on our website, and add it as a resource to our TXFED.org Agritourism courses. We would be delighted to work with SSARE to publish the handbook in their online resources, and may seek further funding to create a professionally formatted and printed handbook for further dissemination and/or to develop the handbook into a TXFED.org virtual class series.
The final version of the handbook will also be incorporated into the pre-existing Farm-to-Kids Texas curriculum in the form of field trips. As a part of the Farm-to-Kids Texas after school program, K-8 students in Elgin Independent District have the opportunity to attend three field trips per school year at area farms. The Farm-Based Education Handbook will be a supportive tool for farmers who host our students for field trips, and a valuable way for us to gain insights on the implementation of the handbook content. Sharing the handbook with interested local producers will expand the number of farms available to host field trips and help connect our students to a broader section of their local food system. The activity curriculum of the handbook will be aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) learning standards, which will make the curriculum widely applicable to educators throughout the state. The sample outreach materials provided in the handbook that are targeted toward teachers interested in bringing their students to farm field trips for experiential learning opportunities will highlight the state standards alignment.
While the handbook will target Texas producers, it will have applicability in other states and regions - particularly the activities and curriculum, as well as the assessment tool. Legal considerations, weather, cultural context, and state learning standards will vary from state to state, but the handbook’s contents will be highly adaptable to different regions and states. The handbook will be freely and publicly available online to anyone who wants to explore and consider farm-based education in Texas or beyond.
Learning Outcomes
Increased confidence in working with youth for on-farm programming
New ideas for how to transform their farm into a learning space
Concrete activities and lesson plans to share with youth participants
How to incorporate learning objectives and curriculum standards in to farm based education
Increased awareness of safety considerations for hosting youth educational programs
Project Outcomes
Economic Benefits:
- Diversified Income Streams: Agritourism encourages farmers to diversify their sources of income. By building up their youth programs or field trip offerings, farmers can reduce their reliance on single crops, providing a more stable and resilient financial foundation.
- Year-Round Income Opportunities: Field trips and youth education programs can be offered during the slower parts of the season to help offset the lull in income that farmers experience when there aren’t a lot of crops ready to harvest and market. Overall, these practices help mitigate risks tied to seasonal fluctuations and crop failure.
- Lower-Effort, High-Impact Approaches for Youth Programming: The handbook curriculum focuses on simple, yet impactful lessons to introduce youth to your farm. The lessons are designed to require minimal materials and preparation time, so farmers can optimize their time farmers while still hosting engaging youth programs.
Environmental Benefits:
- Farm-Based Education: The project contributes to a sustainable food system future by teaching the next generation about farming and environmental stewardship. Getting outside for farm-based education fosters in youth a connection with their local farms and encourages them to see themselves as farmers when they grow up.
Social Benefits:
- Community Engagement: The project fosters a sense of community among farmers, youth, and local stakeholders by promoting collaborative learning. Teachers, students, families, and farmers, all benefit from this relationship — farmers expand their customer base, and youth get an opportunity for hands on learning that can foster math, science, language arts, artistic, and interpersonal skills.