As the ABN County Fair and Festival Tour powered by Propane rolls on this summer, it gives us a chance to meet many people across the state and interact with them about a variety of topics. Of course, it's always fun to see our young 4-H members exhibiting their projects and the smiles on their faces as they tell us about their hard work and success.
This year, it has been particularly interesting to witness a growing number of new projects in the 4-H arena that seem to be gaining popularity. Examples of these opportunities include rockets, robots, finance, nutrition and even unique projects made with duct tape that stretch the limits of the imagination. No doubt this expansion of 4-H has allowed young people who might not otherwise be able to participate in the organization through some of the more traditional projects such as livestock, to enjoy that same valuable experience.
When used as a vehicle to increase membership, awareness and access to 4-H, I fully support these projects. Moreover, I see them as a valuable opportunity to expose young people from outside the rural community to agriculture. While living in a city, or not coming from a farm background may limit a young person's ability to bring cattle to the county fair, our ability to use 4-H to reach out to those students who are building rockets and robots and help them to understand the value of agriculture is boundless.
Some of you may question the direct connection between these non-traditional projects and the need to use them as a conduit back to agriculture. The reasons for doing so are many. First of all, to be an active member in any organization it is important to understand the roots of that organization. It just so happens that 4-H was started right here in Ohio by A.B. Graham, and at that time it was known as the Agricultural Boys and Girls Club. The projects that those young people worked on were centered around agriculture and rural lifestyles. Thus, it is extremely important that we never forget where we came from, and it was agriculture that gave life to the organization we now know as 4-H.
Keeping in mind that the production of food, fuel and fiber impacts every American, it is vitally important that we help our young people develop a basic understanding of production agriculture and ensure that they are well-versed about where those products come from. What better organization to do that than one that was founded for that very purpose?
Part of the reason I bring this up is that as we've been visiting with folks across the state we have heard some rather alarming comments. When visiting with one particular 4-H Extension Educator about the changes we've seen in 4-H and the much broader range of project opportunities, I posed the question of how in their role as 4-H Extension Educatators they are able to still make agriculture relevant to young people who exhibit non-traditional projects. The response that I received was, "Wow, I never thought of that."
In yet another conversation, someone went so far as to say that FFA is for ag kids and 4-H is for everyone else. When pressed for further explanation of that comment the person said that 4-H is still there for the ag kids, but ultimately they will join FFA when they become old enough, so it's simply an intermediary organization relative to agriculture.
This particular comment really struck me because despite the connection I now have with FFA and the work I do in support of the organization, I was never a member of the FFA. Due to scheduling conflicts in high school, I had to make a choice between college prep classes and agriculture classes and knowing that I was headed off to college, I opted out of FFA. However, I exhibited livestock projects through 4-H throughout my years of eligibility and I treasure that experience. Not every school offers an FFA program, is able to accommodate all who may be interested in ag classes or is able to offer enough resources to their students that FFA should be seen as a suitable replacement for 4-H.
Along the same lines of thinking, someone made an observation that 4-H is yielding agriculture to the FFA in lieu of focusing on a different niche. While I understand that this is simply the opinion of a casual observer, I had to wonder what is happening in the 4-H program that it might even give off the perception that this is the case.
Earlier this year we dedicated a beautiful new building for Ohio 4-H. That building became a reality because of thousands of donors who shared in a vision, are passionate about 4-H and want to see it continue as a strong and vital organization. And many of those dollars were generated from businesses and individuals who represent agriculture.
There is an old adage to the effect that "you need to dance with the one that brought you." In the case of 4-H, it was the Agricultural Boys and Girls Club that gave birth to the organization. We must never forget that while 4-H is about more than living on the farm and bringing animals to the county fair, it will forever be rooted in agriculture. That being said, we must never turn our backs on that piece of the organization's heritage.
Further, we as past members of 4-H we have a responsibility to support the continued growth of the organization, while at the same time holding our local, county and state leaders accountable for the direction and mission of the organization. 4-H is arguably the most powerful connection that we in agriculture have to influence our young people who are not yet involved in FFA, or not able to be be involved in other agricultural youth organizations. We must never forget the value of that connection and do all that we can to ensure that it remains strong and vital, particularly as we move toward a future of young people who are generations removed from the family farm, or have no exposure to agriculture.
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