Courtesy photo.
SANTA PAULA — After a year of virtual events, Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) will be holding its annual Santa Barbara County Farm Day and Ventura County Farm Day in-person this fall. Santa Barbara Farm Day is September 18. Ventura County Farm Day is November 6. This year’s Farm Day theme is “Know The Essential Hands That Feed You.”
Every year, growers in each county provide open tours of their farms to the public. Visitors learn about the origins of their food and how agriculture contributes to the country’s nutritional well-being. Activities during Farm Day are geared to all age groups and include farm tours and product samples.
Members of the public drive themselves at their own pace from farm to farm on Farm Day. This year, SEEAG is introducing a new Google Maps integrated Farm Day Trail Guide. The guide will enable users to create a custom itinerary based on their personal interests. The guide will also feature curated trails featuring tours that will focus on science and new farming technology; other trails will highlight farming history.
Santa Barbara County Farm Day is now in its third year. Ventura County Farm Day is celebrating its ninth year.
“We are grateful for the support we receive from growers in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties,” says Mary Maranville, SEEAG founder and CEO. “Without so many growers participating, Farm Day couldn’t happen. Farm Day is such a great opportunity for growers and the public to connect. How produce appears on grocery shelves is a mystery to many. Farm Day provides a greater understanding and appreciation of growers and farm workers.”
Sponsors include Bobalu Berry Farms, Brokaw Nursery, Coastal Ag, Community Bank of Santa Maria, Edwin and Jeanne Woods Family Foundation, Plantel Nurseries, Reiter Affiliated Companies, Ventura County Agriculture Commissioner, Ventura County Credit Union and Wells Fargo.
For more about SEEAG, Santa Barbara County Farm Day and Ventura County Farm Day, go to www.seeag.org.
About SEEAG — Founded in 2008, Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) is a nonprofit organization that aims to help young students understand the origins of their food by bridging the gap between agriculture and consumption through its agricultural education programming. SEEAG’s “The Farm Lab” program based in Ventura County teaches schoolchildren about the origins of their food and the importance of local farmland by providing schools with classroom agricultural education and free field trips to farms. Through this and other SEEAG programs, including its Child Wellness Initiative in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, over 60,000 elementary school students in Central and Southern California have increased their understanding of the food journey. For more information, visit www.seeag.org or email Mary Maranville at mary@seeag.org.