Agricultural Literacy
Our education, outreach and service programs at WCRC-OM site are designed to build Agricultural Literacy – an understanding the relationships between agriculture and the environment, economy, human nutrition and community health.
We work to increase Ag Literacy in the public, with a specific focus on the Community Food System in Western Colorado. We use the orchards, vegetable plots, gardens, hoophouse, farm classroom and teaching kitchen at WCRC-OM as educational spaces to provide learning opportunities for K-12 students and adults.
How we think about Agricultural Literacy
The American diet has significantly shifted to highly processed foods. Our reliance on these foods has shifted our perceptions of what makes up a healthy meal, changed our expectations of how foods should taste, and impacted our abilities to prepare meals from whole nutritious foods.
Engaging people in experiential learning around how food grows, how it tastes, and how it is prepared has been shown to help changes behavior, especially in children, towards and acceptance of fresh fruits and vegetables. We create a positive learning environment around whole nutritious foods to help people develop new perceptions, expectations, and confidence in using whole food. These learning goals are aligned with our work in food insecurity at WCRC-OM to improve community health and food security.
K-12 Hands-On Learning
The Ag Literacy instruction team at WCRC-OM has provided almost 20,000 hours of hands-on learning to Western Slope students. Students visit the Research Center through partnerships between CSU and the Mesa County Valley School District, Eureka! McConnell Science Museum, Riverside Education Center, and community groups such as the Girl and Boy Scouts, homeschool programs, and faith-based youth programs.
Come Learn With Us!
Schedule a field trip for your class or youth group.
We partner with Eureka! to help manage field trip requests. Please visit the Eureka! Dig In! @ CSU Research Center website to request a field trip.
Enroll your individual student in Eureka!-CSU summer or no-school programming. Please visit the Eureka! Environmental Institute and Dig in! @ CSU Research Center websites to see the amazing options.
Problem-Based Learning
We provide support to classes and schools engaged in problem-based learning around agriculture, food and nutrition, and natural resources. Contact us if you would like to schedule a visit to your classroom to give a presentation or participate as expert panelists.
Connect your Problem-Based Learning to hands-on experiences at the Research Center. We can customize field trips to support many PBL projects. Please follow the link to fill out a field trip request form and be specific about the problem your students are studying.
We partner with CSU’s CAM’s Academy, which has developed Problem Based Learning Units for 8-12th grade in Food Access, Plant Genomics and Applied Agri-Technology. Your school can participate in these free PBL units that are being used statewide by visiting the CAM Academy website. Come to WCRC-OM to enrich the PBL with hands-on learning.
Internships and Service Learning Opportunities
Immerse yourself in our community-centric educational experiences, designed to enrich learning while offering compensation. Engage in agricultural production, specialized Dietetic Internships tailored for pursuing a Master’s Degree as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and Capstone and Practicum programs through the Colorado School of Public Health. Earn academic credits across diverse fields with hands-on projects, some of which may have remote options.
Experiential Learning for Adults
A unique opportunity for adults and families is to volunteer at the Research Center. Join us in harvesting fruits and vegetables that will be directed to food pantries, food banks and area meal programs. Work alongside our researchers or learn a skill at our workshops. We value your time and build in opportunities to learn and discuss problems facing agriculture in the arid west. If preserving food is more your speed, CSU Specialist Ann Duncan provides canning and preserving classes every summer. To learn more, follow the links below:
- Sign up for volunteering
- Learn about our workshops by emailing Gigi.Richard@colostate.edu to get signed up for the WCRC newsletter.
- Learn about upcoming canning and preserving classes or follow us on Facebook:
