As he strolled around the acres of his farm on Thursday, Joe Bryant couldn’t help but smile.
Bryant watched as hundreds of local kids learned about the animals and participated in activities at his Shepherd farm in the third annual Project Rural Education Day, also known as “Project RED”.
Bryant, whose farm is located near Walton Road in Shepherd, started Project RED with his family in 2015 after hearing about a similar event in the Bay City area. Bryant wanted kids in Isabella County to get the same experience and has since tried to teach them the ins-and-outs of farming and its importance to society.
“It’s fun for us to listen to the presenters and walk around and talk to teachers and kids,” he said. “We want to make a connection between us as the grower and them as the consumer. We want them to realize the food doesn’t come from the Meijer store shelf.”
The event started Wednesday with fourth graders from Shepherd, Beal City and Winn schools, and Sacred Heart Academy, coming to the farm. Bryant had to make Project RED a two-day event for the first time this year as students from Mt. Pleasant Public Schools came on Thursday.
The students watched 12 presenters and went from station to station around the farm. Each station represents a different aspect of not just farming, but agriculture all together.
Stations this year include learning about bugs, talking to a bee keeper, listening to a veterinarian, making butter, learning about careers in agriculture and getting safety advice from a DNR officer.
Bryant’s daughter, Emily, helps out each year at Project RED.
Emily Bryant said she greets the fourth graders when they arrive on the buses and is always amazed how many kids have never been on a farm before.
“It’s crazy because we live in a farming-populated community,” she said. “It’s good for them to actually come out and physically see things. We reinforce positively that farmers care and are here for good and we aren’t doing harmful things to the environment.”
She said each class leaves with packets of information and activities to follow up with back at school. One of the family’s goals is to allow kids to see the “positive” impact farms have on local communities.
“There’s a lot of negativity around farming these days, so it is good that these kids get to learn the positive effects of agriculture and what we do,” she said.
Blake Hockridge, a fourth grader at Mary McGuire Elementary School, said he’s been on one farm before, but never learned about how it operates. His favorite station was the “pizza garden,” where students learn about all the ingredients in a pizza.
“They just tell you where it comes from and you learn about pizza,” Blake said. “She tells you that Coca Cola has corn in it, if you didn’t already know that. It’s really fun.”
Jordan Floyd, who is in the same class at Mary McGuire, said her favorite station was the miniature pig display.
Floyd, who had never been on a farm before, enjoyed seeing the animals for the first time.
“I liked looking at small miniature barn with pigs in it and learning about what they eat,” she said. “We learned some cool facts about the pigs.”
While Project RED has continued to grow through its three years, Bryant is happy with its current state and hopes he and his volunteers can continue to educate for years to come.
“I hope we can hold everything that we got. I like system we have in place and think growing to three days might be too much,” he said. “I hope that if they are one day given some information that seems bad about farming, maybe now they will give us the benefit of the doubt.”
