Texas Agriculture Daily

By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

Anderson County Farm Bureau recently held its annual Food Connection Day event, serving breakfast to over 400 students and their families.

The breakfast menu, which included pancakes, sausage and juice, helped students connect the important role farmers and ranchers play in their lives and learn where their food comes from.

“After we serve them breakfast, we tell them about where their food comes from and how the pancakes come from wheat. The sausage is from pigs, and the juice is made from apples and oranges,” Ted Britton, Anderson County Farm Bureau secretary, said. “It’s just grown every year that we’ve done this, and other organizations in the community have gotten involved, as well.”

This marked the sixth year of the event, which started as an initiative with First Blessings to distribute shoes to low-income families in the county. Anderson County Farm Bureau combined the shoe giveaway with a breakfast event, creating an opportunity to engage the next generation about agriculture.

“These kids, they don’t know where their food comes from, and we just want to instill in them how important agriculture is,” Britton said. “They think it’s just going to the store, and we can buy anything we need. It’s one of our jobs as Farm Bureau members to promote agriculture and help people understand how important agriculture is.”

In addition to the breakfast, each student received a backpack from the Junior League Service. The backpack was filled with crayons, coloring sheets featuring the breakfast items they were eating and information about Texas Farm Bureau member benefits.

Anderson County Farm Bureau youth ambassadors, as well as Elkhart FFA and Cayuga FFA members, helped serve the breakfast.

Other community organizations, like the Palestine Fire Department, helped with set up and tear down of the event held at the First Presbyterian Church. The Palestine Lyons Club sponsored free eye tests available for students, and members of the First Christian Church and Grace Methodist helped support the event.

First Blessings provided each student with a free pair of shoes to start the school year.

“It’s amazing to see a community come together and work toward a common goal,” Britton said. “It’s very gratifying, and we’re humbled that we have a part in it.”

The event’s impact has grown significantly, starting with just 50 kids and expanding to serve hundreds each year. The Anderson County Farm Bureau Food Connection Day event has inspired other counties, like Coleman County Farm Bureau, to adopt similar initiatives.

“We’re glad to see it expand to other counties and make an impact for more people,” Britton said.