By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

A hamburger may seem simple, but for Lampasas County students, it became a lesson in food and the farmers behind it.

Lampasas County Farm Bureau highlighted the anatomy of a burger, discussing the tasty ingredients and the farmers and ranchers responsible for growing the food.

“Hamburgers have multiple food groups,” said Mickey Edwards, Lampasas County Farm Bureau board member and former Texas Farm Bureau state director. “We talked about where all the food comes from, how the wheat and vegetables are grown, how cattle are raised, and we related it back to our stations at the Ag Day.”

The event served up a variety of agricultural experiences with 14 exhibits, including a tractor, hay, sheep, goats, cattle, swine, chicks, ducklings and even a visit from a local game warden.

Lampasas County Farm Bureau members, along 4-H and FFA students, worked each exhibit to share more information about agriculture with the elementary students.

“You would think Lampasas is very rural, but it’s really not,” Edwards said. “Like most other towns, we’re influenced by population growth and fragmentation. So, we have a very small percentage of our kids actually involved directly in agriculture. Most of these students haven’t seen some of the animals or equipment we brought. No matter where you’re living—rural or urban—you still need to know about where your food comes from.”

Nearly 600 students from three local elementary schools attended this year’s Ag Day, “meating” farmers and ranchers and learning about agriculture and the work it takes to grow the ingredients for a hamburger.

Edwards noted the importance of events like this in making connections and growing agricultural literacy.

“It’s important for young people to know where their food comes from, who’s producing it, and they get to meet us and talk to us and hear our stories,” he said.

Over the last three decades, the teachers have become increasingly invested in the event’s success, according to Edwards.

“I think the best thing I’ve seen is that it used to be directed by us, but as it has grown, the teachers have taken over the organization of it,” he said. ”We’re more of an advisory group now. We set up booths and work the event, but the teachers are taking more ownership in it. They’re excited to come back every year.”

And Lampasas County Farm Bureau looks forward to stacking up more Ag Day memories for students—one lesson at a time.