Education

Education and outreach form an important component of the farm to fork projects. Contributors to this research interact with a number of innovative educational programs that explore the interrelationships between rural-urban communities, agriculture and the environment.

Living Rural Communities and Environments
The University credit corse takes place out of the Harvest Moon Learning Centre in Clearwater, Manitoba. Students visit farms and explore the relationship between farm operations, rural culture, and the environment. Conducted over a two-week period, the program combines lectures and farm visits, along with course projects. Students will learn about the pressures facing rural communities and environments, gain insight into evolving rural cultures, be exposed to a diversity of farming operations and be immersed in rural culture for 10 days.

Curriculum Development – Harvest Moon Society & Prairie Spirit School Division
This one year pilot project involves the collaborative development of agro-environmental learning curriculum between the Harvest Moon Society and the Prairie Spirit School division. The program will be developed starting summer 2008 with learning activities implemented in the 2009-2010 school-year. It is broken down into three components that might be most easily communicated by learning ABOUT the environment (cognitive), learning IN the environment (affective, kinesthetic, artistic, naturalist) and learning FOR the environment (behavioral actions toward sustainability). The Outcome of this program is to develop a series of packaged in-class and field-trip educational programs that compliment and supplement current provincial curriculum. These programs will be grounded in sustainability education and be organized around the theme: Can we do more with less: limits, resilience and the environment. The objectives of this project are to:

  • Consult with local teachers to develop specialized educational programs to meet formal and in-formal educational needs/gaps.
  • Enhance capacity within the community to increase the diversity of learning opportunities available to rural students
  • Enhance pride in community and sense of place in rural youth. Education in our own backyard
  • Link university-based teachers and local experts with rural youth to provide progressive, locally-based experiential education

Harvest Moon Festival
The perennial Harvest Moon Festival takes place in Clearwater, Manitoba every September to celebrate the Harvest Season through a cornucopia of music, food, education and fun. The festival has grown in size and scope and now brings just under 1000 festivarians to celebrate and learn. A series of workshops are coordinated each year that touch on a broad range of topics related to food, agriculture and rural culture.