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News Release
10-13-09
STATE’S K-6 STUDENTS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN
FARM-CITY WEEK POSTER CONTEST
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is inviting West Virginia’s Kindergarten through sixth-grade students to participate in its annual National Farm-City Week poster contest. The theme of this year’s contest is eating locally.
“All food starts on a farm somewhere; it doesn’t just appear at the grocery store,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “And it’s not necessarily a farm in some other state or country. We produce a lot of food in West Virginia. In fact, we were one of only 15 states that showed an increase in the number of farms in the most recent Census of Agriculture.”
As examples, Commissioner Douglass noted the 95 million chickens and turkeys and 415,000 head of cattle produced annually in the Mountain State.
Kindergarten through second grade students are asked to color a predetermined poster (available for download at www.wvagriculture.org). The older students (third through sixth grades) must enter an original poster of their own creation. Entries will be judged on originality, artistic quality and incorporation of agricultural themes. The schools have also been mailed the poster examples for participation.
“The contest is an effort by the WVDA to stimulate students to think about the importance of agriculture to our society and the connections that make it possible to take food ‘from the farm to the fork,’” Commissioner Douglass said.
First-place winners in each age category will be awarded $75, second-place winners will receive $50, and third-place winners will receive $25. Grade categories will be K-2, 3-4 and 5-6.
National Farm-City Week takes place each year during the week immediately preceding Thanksgiving Day and recognizes the contributions made by both rural and urban America in providing consumers a safe, wholesome and affordable food supply. More information is available at www.farmcity.org.
Poster entries must be postmarked by October 28 and returned to: WVDA, Communications Division, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, WV 25305.
More information about the poster contest is available at www.wvagriculture.org, or by calling WVDA’s Communications Division at 304-558-3708.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
“The Basis of All Wealth is Agriculture.”
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