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For interviews: Claudia Serslund,
259-8884 or on site: Katie Feeley and Melissa Tanner. For copy of
agenda, call 278-5366.
The FARMS Leadership Program will hold a Healthy Lifestyles workshop on
Thursday, Dec. 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at California State University,
Fresno where 28 teenagers will learn how to make “healthy pizzas” in an
effort to introduce them to environmentally sound agricultural practices
that preserve land and resources for future generations.
The baking workshop will be held in the Food Science and Nutrition
kitchen in Family Food Science Bldg. Room 108. A class will also be held
in FFS Room 105.
The students, from Duncan Polytechnic, Central West, Firebaugh and
Lemoore High Schools, will be split into two groups with the bulk of the
activity between 9 and 11 when they make pizza dough, learn about
nutrition through an activities exercise, bake the pizza then eat it for
lunch at noon.
The FARMS Leadership Program, operated by the non-profit community-based
Center for Land-based Learning based in Winters, places students in
agricultural settings in their communities throughout the state where
they experience the relevance of basic environmental and agricultural
sciences.
Center for Land-based Learning programs currently serve 2,000 high
school students a year, providing them the tools to think critically
about these issues, said Claudia Serslund, coordinator of the Fresno
FARMS Leadership Program. The Fresno program was begun four years ago
with funding form the Buy California program of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture.
Fresno State is one of the program's many partners.
“The program was created to teach the next generation about the cause
and effect relationship between agricultural practices and the
environment, and to create connections with the land that our youth so
desperately need,” Serslund said. “FARMS also introduces high school
students to the resources and networks that can lead to careers in
sustainable agriculture or related environmental sciences.”
Serslund said there are so few experience-based programs in agriculture
and environmental sciences for this age group.
“The mid-teens are developmentally the appropriate time to instill
skills that help students make positive, informed decisions about their
futures,” she said. “It’s the right time to introduce students to the
resources and practical information that encourages post-secondary
studies related to environmental sustainability and agriculture.
Fresno State dietetic interns Katie Feeley and Melissa Tanner, graduate
students in the Food Science and Nutrition Department, will assist with
the workshop. The Fresno State Ag Ambassadors will make a presentation
about college and agriculture opportunities and provide the teenagers
with a campus tour.
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