AVONDALE, PA - As To-Jo Mushrooms looks to cultivate young minds and share the key role agriculture plays in foods, it has announced the launch of #GrowingFutures–an interactive educational program in partnership with local schools.
“Partnering with local schools and continuing to educate our youth, especially on topics like agricultural industries, can help shape their understanding of the impact these industries have on the food they eat,” said Kevin Delaney, VP of Sales and Marketing.
The program officially kicked off last week with area middle schools, beginning with Avondale, PA-based Assumption BVM School.
“Our students really enjoyed immersing themselves into the hands-on activities that the team from To-Jo brought into our classroom. It was one of the best partner programs we have been a part of,” said Christine Vogt, a fifth grade teacher at Assumption BVM.
The goal of #GrowingFutures is to bring agriculture and science-based learning into early education classrooms, according to a press release, teaching students about the importance of these industries, and piquing curiosity, and developing interest in those fields as potential future career paths.
Highlighting the growing cycle, varieties, and sustainable nature of mushroom farming through hands-on learning with To-Jo’s employees, students get to use magnifying glasses to examine various raw materials that are important to each phase of the growing cycle, as well as the anatomy of several mushroom varieties.
The company added that interactive virtual reality demos give students the opportunity to step into mushroom houses and witness harvesters picking, while portable growing beds allow for real time exposure.
Southern Chester County currently produces over 600 million lbs of fresh mushrooms annually, or approximately 60 percent of all fresh mushrooms produced in the U.S. #GrowingFutures will continue to partner with local schools throughout 2018 to provide students living in the heart of “Mushroom country” to help further education on a product that plays a vital role in Pennsylvania’s agriculture.
