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If you ask your average kid where his food comes from, most will probably say, "The grocery store." A new exhibit at the Iowa State Fair, Little Hands on the Farm, aims to demonstrate through hands-on experiences how food and other items like wool actually originate on farms. The "ag-venture" got its start at the Indiana State Fair.
In a half-acre mini farm on the Des Moines fairgrounds, kids ages 2 to 10 and their families walk through several buildings and exhibits where they get to play farmer. Last Friday, I joined Nathan and Erica Beirman of Slater, Iowa, along with sons Noah, 6, and Brock, 4, on their Little Hands adventure.
Our first stop was a mini barn sponsored by Home Depot. (All the stops are sponsored, which helps keep the exhibit free for visitors. Other sponsors include John Deere, Fareway Stores, Dickies, WHO Radio 1040, Earl May Nursery and Garden Centers, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, Midwest Dairy Association, and the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board.)
The kids were given a Pioneer seed cap, apron and mini bushel basket. Brock got a big kick out of putting the cap on his dad's head and saying, "You're a farmer!" Then he'd take it off and say, "You're not a farmer!"
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