National Ag Day Celebration

The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences celebrated National Agriculture Day on March 18 in the Cotillion Ballroom of the Smith-Brown Memorial Union. The theme of the event was “Agriculture: Sustaining Future Generations”, with discussion topics on what students can do to promote agriculture in their homes and communities, and what the Southern University Agriculture Center has to offer.
The Department invited several high schools to the event, including: Barnhill Preserve, Broadmoor, Glen Oaks, Zachary High and St. Helena College and Career Academy. Students in attendance had lunch in Mayberry Dining Hall, completed a scavenger hunt and visited various informational booths to learn more about the Department of Agriculture.
Informational booths distributed information regarding the types of plants grown by SU students on campus, healthy nutrition habits and biofuels. One booth even had a baby kangaroo for attendees to pet.
Guest speaker Dr. Andra Johnson, Associate Professor of Urban Forestry explained what exactly agriculture is. Johnson also discussed the massive global food crisis, and his personal experiences in agriculture.
Kalaia Tripeau, a sophomore Urban Forestry major believed the event was very well, and ran smoothly.
“I learned a lot from my peers because I had a chance to walk around and view their posters,” said Tripeau. However, she did not believe the high school students were engaged in the event.
“Many students didn’t ask questions about posters,” explained Tripeau. “The high school students seemed like they were just trying to get their scavenger hunt papers done,” finished Tripeau.
Taylor Semones, a sophomore Dietetic major believed the event had a great level of importance, and remained entertaining and informational for all in attendance.
“The event had a lot of good stuff in it and it gave everyone an opportunity to see what the program was about, and consider SU as their choice for college,” said Semones. “The high school students participated in everything we had to offer,” added Semones.