CAFNR
Week kicks off with agricultural education in the park
Story and photos by
Jamie Floyd, posted Sept. 17, 2007
The
College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’
CAFNR Week kicked off Thursday, Sept. 13, with an appearance
at the Twilight Festival, a downtown Columbia event held every
Thursday evening in June and September. CAFNR organizations
set up “carnival” theme booths alongside Flat
Branch Park on Fourth Street to demonstrate to children how
agriculture affects daily life.
CAFNR
students met with children of all ages to educate them about
agriculture and MU. Activities included MU and agriculture
trivia, milk sampling and face painting. Brianna Schuster,
senior agribusiness management major and Alpha Gamma Rho queen
candidate for CAFNR Week, participated in Twilight Festival
by working at the face painting booth, which was a highlight
for many of the children attending the festival.
 |
| CAFNR student Brianna Schuster paints an MU logo on the arm of Avery Samuel of Columbia, Mo., while visiting the Alpha Gamma Rho booth at Twilight Festival. |
“Children
are our future and agriculture is the base of our nation,”
Schuster said. “By holding events like the Twilight
Festival and encouraging education, we are promoting a better
tomorrow for future generations to come. Showing kids that
there are places to get involved, like CAFNR, is a great way
to promote agriculture and our College.”
Schuster
feels that CAFNR’s appearance at Twilight Festival was
a success and she also enjoys that the event promoted agriculture
education to the community. The CAFNR Week Steering Committee,
which organized and hosted the appearance at Twilight Festival,
has also been focusing on promoting education about CAFNR.
 |
Members of the CAFNR Week Steering Committee serve dinner to a crowd of eager festival attendees, left.
A yellow sign and bright orange shirts direct families towards CAFNR booths, below.
|
 |
“In
years past, CAFNR Week has not been widely publicized,”
said Rachel Bartholomew, CAFNR Week Steering Committee member.
“We feel that CAFNR is such a great college and our
field has so much to offer that this needs to be celebrated
and promoted. Our hope is that by participating in Twilight
Festival, we can increase awareness of our College.”
Bartholomew
also hopes that by sharing information and educating children
about agriculture, CAFNR students can spread agricultural
literacy to parents. Beginning CAFNR Week at the Twilight
Festival will hopefully not only promote education but also
spread the word about CAFNR Week.
