The Summer Ag Institute is a continuing education course that provides a hands-on pedagogical experience for Oregon educators. Since it began in 1989, more than 500 teachers have completed the weeklong program and earned OSU graduate credits. As 10% of Oregon’s economy, the agriculture industry generates $29 billion annually and creates over a quarter million jobs. Agriculture accounts for 60 percent of exports, and Oregon farmers produce more than 230 major crops. Successful farming requires knowledge in many disciplines, from biology and engineering to law and economics. And with the demands of a growing population and changing climate, education is more crucial now than ever.

Teachers have a choice of two sessions of the Summer Ag Institute, one on either side of the Cascades. The eastside experience, based in Union, includes Columbia Basin wheat ranches, timber operations, seed farms, and cattle ranches. The westside experience, based in Corvallis, showcases the Willamette Valley’s cornucopia of fruit, nuts, vegetables, microbreweries, and Christmas trees. The program gets teachers outdoors in the field, testing, tasting, and learning about agriculture first-hand.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2013/q-how-can-kids-learn-where-food-comes