BRYAN, Texas — Hundreds of elementary students gathered at Pizza Ranch to learn about agriculture and where their food comes from.
On today’s menu is pizza.
“It is an eye-opening experience for some kids because they’re typically used to buying a frozen pizza, not even really making pizza at home,” said Susan Smith, master gardener. “We talk about the process, the wheat that is used in the crust, and all of the spices that are used with the tomatoes, and also some history.”
Three hundred fourth graders gathered at Pizza Ranch at a 4H event where Texas A&M AgriLife extension introduces kids to agriculture and wildlife through team building and youth development.
“It’s just really important for the younger people to grow up knowing where their food comes from so that way they can later in life know how to help out in those ways, whether it’s on a farm or in college,” said Abbey Sallee, Pizza Ranch volunteer.
Many kids hadn't been on a field trip in years due to the pandemic and Smith says these fourth graders were filled with excitement to learn about pizza.
And how under culinary applications, a tomato is a vegetable.
“They’re really interested in pizza,” said Smith. "Pizza is a big thing if you’re a kid and so they’re interested in learning about it. We had a question-answer period at the end of each presentation, and they were like 100 percent right. Truly, they were listening to the whole lesson.”
Fourth graders were able to learn about food and where it comes from through presentations from Texas A&M Poultry Science Department, Brazos County Master Gardeners, Dairy Max, and Texas Farm Bureau.