'Farm to Fork'

FFA Partners With Food Companies at Farm Show

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Organizers of this year’s Farm Show Agricultural Technology Display hope the public will come away with an increased awareness of how farm products get from the fields onto their kitchen table.

Eight FFA chapters have been paired with some of the state’s most prominent food processors in creating displays for the contest.

Companies such as Turkey Hill, Kreider Farms, Herr Foods, and Furmano’s contributed time and equipment to the “Keeping Pennsylvania Growing: Open For Business” display.

Larry Weaver, assistant director of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, said the event has become key to getting more youth to participate in Farm Show related events.

“The goal is to promote the FFA. More and more, we’re trying to promote the youth in this event. The goal here was to educate the public from farm to fork,” Weaver said.

While the companies donated some equipment and expertise, it was the students who actually designed the various displays.

Students from Eastern Lebanon County High School (ELCO) were paired with Seltzer’s Bologna of Palmyra on a display showcasing the various stages of meat production.

A total of 20 students from the school’s 65 member FFA chapter are participating in the project.

Ryan Achey, 15, participated in last year’s renewable energy project, and if there was one thing he came away with, it was “that we got to start a lot earlier than we did.”

Students were at the Farm Show last weekend, setting up their display which will highlight the process of getting bologna into the kitchen through various scenes, including one on the farm, one in a butcher shop, and one in the kitchen.

Chambersburg FFA students are being paired with Bell & Evans/Farmers Pride on a display showcasing chicken processing and the company’s use of air chilling as an alternative to putting chickens in chlorinated water.

Ed Parsons, advisor of the school’s FFA chapter, said the students have been planning their display since August. It had to be tweaked after the students visited the company’s plant in Fredericksburg, Pa., where Parsons said the group learned more about how the company handles its birds.

“We want to show how Pennsylvania processors handle their chickens. We want to tell a story, but we want to do it in a tasteful way,” Parsons said. “My students have learned a lot.”

Bell and Evans is providing sample products and a model building of their plant, along with a DVD presentation of how they process chickens.

Students from Biglerville’s Apple City FFA, which won the “best in show” title in last year’s renewable energy display, are focusing their attention on something they should be familiar with: apples.

Surprisingly, though, according to Michelle Miller, chapter adviser, most of her students participating in the project knew very little about apple processing prior to coming up with the display idea.

“Touring the Knouse plant was a surprise because we learned a lot about what they do and they’re in our backyard,” Miller said.

She relied on one of her seniors, 17-year-old Shawnee Weidner, whose mom and stepdad work at one of Knouse’s plants, to lead the group of newcomers.

“We really didn’t have a plan until we saw the equipment we were going to use,” Shawnee said.

Knouse donated apple crates, a conveyor belt, a bottling line, and a sprayer for the students to use in their display.

“It has a lot of different components with it,” Miller said of the display, which also includes an actual apple tree, information on methods growers use to grow apples, and the different products apples can be used for.

“We just want to make people aware of the stuff Knouse foods and other processors actually do. People think it’s all about applesauce. It’s more than that,” Shawnee said.

Each exhibit was judged Friday as part of the landscape display competition.
Each chapter will have a day to present their display to the public during Farm Show week.

Here is the display presentation schedule:

• Saturday – Penn Manor High School partnering with Turkey Hill;
• Sunday – Chambersburg Area Senior High School partnering with Bell & Evans and Farmer’s Pride;
• Monday – Bermudian Springs High School partnering with Certified Angus Beef and SYSCO;
• Tuesday – Manheim Central High School partnering with Kreider Farms;
• Wednesday – Biglerville High School partnering with Knouse Foods;
• Thursday – Pequea Valley High School partnering with Herr Foods;
• Friday – Eastern Lebanon County High School partnering with Seltzer Smokehouse Meats;
• Saturday, Jan. 16 – Midd-West High School partnering with Furmano’s.

Each chapter will receive a check of $700 from Lancaster Farming, the event sponsor, along with $500 from the state. Winners will also receive additional money and the people’s choice award winner will receive a plaque.