Teachers have the opportunity to educate students about California agriculture through the Taste and Teach program offered by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (CFAITC). The organization has partnered with multiple grocery chains in order to enhance California students’ overall understanding of agriculture.
The program provides funding and informational material to teachers, enabling them to lead students in a taste test while adhering to K-12 California Education Standards. CFAITC is offering a total of $45,000 worth of support for the program. “This year we’re awarding 450 teachers with $100 gift cards to Raley’s, Bel Air, Nobb Hill, or Stater Bros. grocery stores to purchase California grown commodities to taste in their classroom,” DeRohan noted.
The goal is to introduce students to commodities they may not otherwise have access to, with monthly lesson plans highlighting a particular commodity. September will focus on tomatoes, followed by apples in October and kiwifruit in November.
“The teachers will get a binder that’s full of resources that’s broken down each month with the different commodity of focus,” said DeRohan. “It includes some of our different activities, our agriculture facts and activities sheet, single pages from our What’s Growing On, and it’s really just a comprehensive look at different resources that focus at selected commodity per month.”
California K-12 teachers with access to a Stater Bros., Raley’s, Bel Air, or Nob Hill grocery store will have until Friday, August 23 to apply for the Taste and Teach program. Application forms can be found at the CFAC website and applicants will be notified by September 4.
Listen to DeRohan’s interview below.
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