FFA: Off the farm, into the city

FFA member Cierra Fierce, 16, tends to plants in the greenhouse behind Clyde C. Miller Career Academy in St. Louis.

Founded in 1928, the National FFA Organization — it dropped “Future Farmers” from its name in 1988 — isn’t just for farm kids anymore. About 34% of its more than 500,000 members live in cities or suburbs.

By Judy Keen
USA TODAY
Feb 17, 2010

ST. LOUIS — Andre Hall lives in the city and has never plowed a field or fed a hog, but he proudly wears the blue jacket long associated with the organization once called Future Farmers of America.

Hall, 18, is among 30 high-school students who belong to the FFA chapter at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy here. FFA is part of the curriculum in the school’s biotechnology “pathway” that’s preparing him for a job in the agriculture industry.

“It’s something a lot of people wouldn’t expect for urban kids,” says Hall, who has fallen in love with plants and last summer helped his family plant their first vegetable garden. He plans to become a horticulturist and is an intern at Monsanto, a St. Louis-based seed company.

Hall’s favorite activity is working in the greenhouse that was built last year behind the school in a gritty neighborhood. “It’s peaceful,” he says. “I love learning how things work and … then how to take care of them.”

Founded in 1928, the National FFA Organization — it dropped “Future Farmers” from its name in 1988 — isn’t just for farm kids anymore. About 34% of its more than 500,000 members live in cities or suburbs.

Values are universal

“We want to diversify our membership as well as the offerings of agricultural education beyond the farming image,” says Larry Case, FFA’s CEO. “The values that the FFA espouses are a good thing for youth anywhere.”

FFA chapter president Stephanie Edwards’ family was shocked when she said she was joining FFA. “They tease me about it,” she says. “They don’t understand that it’s not about farming.” Edwards, 18, plans to be a veterinarian.

At the Miller Academy, where students learn in classrooms and a lab about genetic engineering, seed germination and food biotechnology — fields where good jobs are available — the FFA is incorporated into classroom work and is an extracurricular activity. Students compete in agriculture sales contests, agronomy and poultry and also learn job-interview skills.

Other groups born in rural America are reaching into cities as family farms dwindle.

Many County Farm Bureaus have “Ag in the Classroom” programs in which farmers adopt urban classrooms. In Illinois, the Kankakee County Farm Bureau adopted a fourth-grade class at Chicago’s Gray Elementary School. Farmers write to students about their work and visit the school, says bureau director Chad Miller.

Of the 6 million youth who participate in 4-H activities, just 12% live on farms. The organization’s agriculture emphasis has changed, says Keith Nathaniel, 4-H youth development director in Los Angeles County, Calif., where there are 33 4-H clubs.

“For our own survival we certainly had to broaden our appeal,” Nathaniel says, “but we also realized that the things we did in the old days of 4-H … also taught leadership and helped kids develop life skills.”

At Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, FFA isn’t just about learning science and attending state and national conventions. It gives students who need a head start the skills they need to succeed, says Principal Stephen Warmack.

See the rest of the article here.

Visit the FFA website here.