BY TIMOTHY LAROCHE
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UNITY — Students from several county schools gathered at the Sullivan County Complex on Wednesday to learn about farming.
Although the modern world divorces many people from the system that allows them easy access to fresh produce and edibles from around the world, county education specialist Dawn Dextraze said, agriculture remains very alive. For the county’s annual School to Farm Day, Dextraze said she aimed to educate young children about the ways that agriculture sustains society.
“It’s a real thrust to get kids to know where their food comes from,” Dextraze said.
The event brought fourth grade students from Maple Avenue Elementary School in Claremont, Unity Elementary School, Charlestown Primary School, North Charlestown Community School and Washington Elementary School together for a full day of meeting with local farmers and agricultural specialists. From apple identifying lessons and bee demonstrations to a mock-up of a sap-producing maple tree, students were treated to a full range of agricultural education opportunities.
“We’re trying to increase kids’ exposure to agriculture because there’s a need for that,” county conservation district director Lionel Chute said.
As a mutual benefit, Chute also said the event fostered greater awareness of the county’s facilities. With Sullivan County retaining a significant agricultural presence, Chute said, farming remains an integral way of life in the area.
According to the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, the state’s farming industry is valued at nearly $1.5 billion, with more than 4,400 farms in the state. Sullivan County remains the state’s largest producer of maple syrup.
“Farming activity provides the fields, pastures and meadows that buffer New Hampshire’s residential and commercial development and affords the views of the hills, valleys and mountains,” Department of Agriculture documents state. “Without land kept open by farming, there would be no green‐ belts around our towns and cities and without farming, there would be no barns, silos, or sugar houses that give our state its special character”
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