Learning About Equity & Inclusion in the Food System Through a Storytelling Curriculum and Training for 4H Agents & Middle School Agriculture Teachers

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: networking, youth education, curriculum development
• Sustainable Communities: ethnic differences/cultural and demographic change, local and regional food systems, social networks

We believe that fresh, local, affordable food should be available to support the health and wellbeing of all Kentuckians. For this to happen, youth from different backgrounds need opportunities to learn about community food systems and work together to improve access to food and farming. In Kentucky, more producers are selling directly to consumers and there is growing interest in “farm to schools” and “farm to hospitals,” but the overall number of farmers is shrinking, and Kentucky has already experienced a dramatic loss of farmers of color. What will it take to inspire a diverse array of youth to enter the field and innovate with new forms of agriculture that provide sufficient income, promote wellness, create community, and heal the earth?

Given the rise in middle school agriculture education programs in Kentucky that are in need of culturally relevant curriculum (there are 20 such programs, many in urban schools), and given the limited programming available to 4-H educators that focuses on food systems literacy in a state where Extension is well-respected and has a broad reach, this project focuses on addressing the needs of both stakeholder groups.   

We developed an interactive curriculum and provided professional development to equip middle school agriculture educators and 4-H Agents at KSU and UK to teach about inclusive local food systems. Employing a storytelling pedagogy, we created three 20-minute videos that feature a racially diverse array of Kentucky farmers and local food practitioners. Ten 45-minute lessons have been built around sections of the films and use popular education techniques to engage students. This approach empowers middle school youth by involving them in interactive learning methods and discussions. The curriculum concludes with a group social action project that can be entered into a special category of the UK Martin-Gatton CAFÉ FFA/4H Field Day event. Ultimately, the curriculum encourages students to appreciate and support sustainable local food systems and consider careers in these fields.

Project activities included: collaborative development of the video series, creation of the accompanying “Food Farming, and Community” curriculum, hosting a 2-hour professional development training for middle school agriculture educators at the 2023 Career & Technical Education (CTE) statewide conference in Louisville, KY, facilitating a half-day training for 4-H Agents in 2023 in Lexington, KY, providing project support for six Agriculture Educators and four 4-H Agents who fully piloted the curriculum and participated in the research process, qualitative evaluation in May/June of 2024 which brought together educators to learn from each other, revision of the agriculture education version of the curriculum in line with feedback from teachers who taught this curriculum to 1200+ Kentucky youth (4-H revisions are ongoing as they will go through a different publication process), website design and open access publishing of the curriculum. 

The project brought together the farmer networks and interviewing/storytelling capacities of Black Soil and Need More Acres Farm with the technical expertise of Agricultural Education and Extension faculty at UK. An advisory group of farmers, educators, and youth provided periodic input to key collaborators regarding the videos and curriculum development process.

Performance Target: Twenty middle school educators (4-H agents & agriculture education teachers) demonstrate their improved knowledge and skills by each teaching approximately 15 students (300 total) using this 10-lesson curriculum. Through an engaging, multi-media, story-based and interactive curriculum, the module we are developing aims to teach Kentucky youth about the value of diverse local food systems and expose them to a range of career paths in related fields. The three-part video series around which the lessons are built features a racially diverse array of Kentucky farmers and local food systems professionals, making it a particularly relevant teaching tool for non-traditional agriculture students.    

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The target audience for this training is middle school agriculture educators and 4-H agents, although the curriculum and training may be of interest to secondary school teachers as well. The framework and approach is adaptable to a wide range of educational settings. 

Project goals and objectives:

1. To provide agriculture educators in Kentucky who teach students of color with curricula that is culturally relevant and inspires them (as well as their white peers!) to consider careers in sustainable agriculture.
2. To provide agriculture educators in Kentucky with lessons that help students gain knowledge about the local food system.
3. To provide agriculture educators in Kentucky with activities and resources that empower youth to build a more inclusive and sustainable food system.
4. To develop and provide an interactive training for agricultural educators to learn about inclusive local food systems and increase their capacity to teach the new curriculum.     
5. To lift up the stories of black farmers and a racially diverse array of local food systems professionals in Kentucky, highlighting how they have built networks of support across racial and class divides.
6. To expand outreach, financial support, market opportunities, and networking support to farmers of color who participate in the development and implementation of this educational curricula and accompanying professional development opportunity.
7. To foster and deepen relationships amongst racially diverse youth, teachers, farmers, and university faculty across the Commonwealth around a shared knowledge base and concern for making our local food system more equitable and sustainable.

Given that this proposal intends to (a) develop a curriculum that is published online; (b) provide professional development for educators on how to implement the curriculum, it is useful to differentiate learning outcomes for the two component parts since they involve different target audiences. 

Expected learning outcomes for story-based curriculum:

K=Knowledge; A=Attitudes; B=Behavior

Youth will learn to:

1. (K) Critically analyze and challenge stereotypes of Kentucky farmers by exploring diverse agricultural profiles and practices, thereby broadening their understanding of the varied identities and roles within Kentucky’s farming community.
2. (K) Explore and expand self-knowledge and introspection regarding one’s own story and experiences with the agriculture and food system.
3. (K) Demonstrate a basic familiarity with some of the main concepts related to local food systems.
4. (A) Recognize diversity as a positive value for our food and farming system.
5. (A) Develop empathy for those whose lived experiences are different.  
6. (A/B) Increase one’s willingness and ability to see complex social issues from different perspectives and vantage points.
7. (A) Place a higher value on farming as an important and desirable occupation.
8. (B) Inquire into and begin to ask questions that lead to critical conversations about inclusivity in the food system.
9. (B) Discover new skills and capacities for collective decision-making and social action that grows the local food system to the benefit of all.
10. (B) Develop relationships with other youth, farmers, and educators from around the Commonwealth who share common commitments.

Expected learning outcomes for middle school educators who will receive our professional development training and support to pilot the curriculum:

Teachers will learn to:

1. (K) Demonstrate a basic familiarity with some of the main concepts related to inclusive local food systems.
2. (A/B) Increase their comfort level and ability to foster productive and authentic conversations about social issues as related to agriculture and food.
3. (A/B) Realize the importance of supporting a racially diverse array of businesses and increase sourcing of local food and flowers from producers of color as part of everyday agriculture education work and Extension activities (e.g., buy product at retail cost from local black farmers when youth are practicing for 4-H horticulture judging).
4. (B) Foster transformative learning for youth by guiding them through the curriculum and engaging them in a social action project of their own design.
5. (B) Develop relationships with other educators, farmers, and youth from around the Commonwealth who share a common set of commitments.