Near the end of the 2008-09 school year, students in Hilltop Elementary school had the opportunity to take part in the 2009 Passport to the Splendor of the Valley Farm Tour. The program allowed students to enjoy the many local farms and see what they produced.
The tour called for students to stop at local farms for a visit and get a stamp on a passport card. Those who had the most were put into a hat for a prize drawing.
“It is the first year for this pilot program that was implemented in Boardman and Canfield elementary schools,” said Kathleen Vrable-Bryan, district administrator for the Mahoning County Soil and Water Conservation District.
She said the program was designed through the cooperation of her office, OSU Extension and the Mahoning County Farm Bureau. The initiative was geared to bring awareness about the county's rich agricultural base.
The program actually got its start when the trio of organizations first came up with the Mahoning Valley Agri Guide in 2008. This pamphlet pinpointed local farms in the tri-county area. To go along with the Agri Guide, an elementary school program was implemented at the end of the last school year when students were given a passport that listed 19 of the area farms. Over the summer months, the students could visit each farm and get their passport stamped. This month, the passports were counted and students became eligible for prizes.
Winning the grand prize this year was second grader Ella Mitchell. She received a Garman handheld GPS and a family fun night at the Fairfield Inn where her family and friends could stay the night, have a pizza party and enjoy a winter swim in the hotel pool.
Ella's favorite stop on the tour was Ellsworth Berry Ordinary Times Farm on Gault Road in North Jackson.
"I got to pick strawberries with my grandpa and brother," Ella said.
Winning the first-place prize was second-grader Sophia Neddy. She also received a Garman GPS along with a gift basket of goodies from Detwiler Farms. She also liked the berry farm and said she was able to pick blueberries for a special purpose.
"I like to bake stuff with blueberries," Sophia said. "We made cobbler and blueberry banana bread."
Second place went to first-grader Morgan Prather. She won a gift card to Bob Evans and tickets to an upcoming Youngstown Symphony performance. For Morgan, her favorite farm was the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm in Canfield.
"There was a pig that chased apples that we threw into his pen," she said. "He really made me laugh."
For Terri Hutchison, the program paid off as well. Hutchison is the Canfield Schools food service director. She was hoping the passport farm tour program would help bring in local suppliers of food.
"Our whole goal is to get local farmers to come to our schools and sell us locally-grown produce," she said. "Angiuli's Farm Market stepped up. I order on Friday and pick up on Monday."
Hutchison said the fresh veggies are used for soups and already she has received comments about how great it tastes.
"When you order from a local farm you know you're getting fresh produce," Hutchison said.
This year’s Passport program brought success for the students and the school's food service departments.
“The goal of the Passport to the Splendor of the Valley Farm Tour is to educate local consumers about local agricultural goods and services, to promote buying local, and to stimulate local agricultural business,” said Vrable-Bryan.
