EdibWasa Summer 2012 : Page 26

edible Wasatch HEAD, HEART, HANDS, AND HEALTH WHY 4-H MATTERS NOW MORE THAN EVER by Kyle Wilson A s I entered the Junior Livestock Show arena, there stood before me dozens of youth in clean pressed white shirts with green four leaf clover patches stitched onto the arms. Each of the four leaves of the clovers had the letter “H” embroi-dered on it: 4-H. This was showmanship night and these particular children were exhibiting calves. I was immediately struck by a little girl with curly red hair who must have only weighed 70 pounds and who was leading an 1100lb Hereford steer into the show pen. For months these children feverishly attend to the health and train-ing of these animals and on showmanship night the opportunity is theirs to show everyone in attendance just how hard they worked. When it was her turn the little red haired girl led her calf into the pen with confidence, comfort, and a pride in the culmination of her many month’s work. But that calf, just like life so often does, had a slightly different plan. He reared his back and side stepped instead of quietly following the little girl like he had hundreds of times before. At this point she had effectively lost the competition, but rather than give up and hang her head, that 70lb girl turned toward the 1100lb animal with a calm resolution far beyond her years and pulled firmly back until the calf followed her on a loose lead rope once more. The crowed literally roared with applause for the little girl. Keep in mind that they weren’t cheering for the win-ner, they were cheering for the little girl who reacted to an adverse situation with determination. She would lose this competition, but she would do so with dignity. 26 edible W "4"5$) *TTVF&#1a;t4VNNFS

100 years of 4-H

By Kyle Wilson

HEAD, HEART, HANDS, AND HEALTH WHY 4-H MATTERS NOW MORE THAN EVER As I entered the Junior Livestock Show arena, there stood before me dozens of youth in clean pressed white shirts with green four leaf clover patches stitched onto the arms. Each of the four leaves of the clovers had the letter "H" embroidered on it: 4-H. This was showmanship night and these particular children were exhibiting calves. I was immediately struck by a little girl with curly red hair who must have only weighed 70 pounds and who was leading an 1100lb Hereford steer into the show pen. For months these children feverishly attend to the health and training of these animals and on showmanship night the opportunity is theirs to show everyone in attendance just how hard they worked. When it was her turn the little red haired girl led her calf into the pen with confidence, comfort, and a pride in the culmination of her many month's work. But that calf, just like life so often does, had a slightly different plan. He reared his back and side stepped instead of quietly following the little girl like he had hundreds of times before. At this point she had effectively lost the competition, but rather than give up and hang her head, that 70lb girl turned toward the 1100lb animal with a calm resolution far beyond her years and pulled firmly back until the calf followed her on a loose lead rope once more. The crowed literally roared with applause for the little girl. Keep in mind that they weren't cheering for the winner, they were cheering for the little girl who reacted to an adverse situation with determination. She would lose this competition, but she would do so with dignity. The judges announced that she was not among the exhibitors to advance to the next round of the competition, and she wept as she led her steer out of the pen where she was met by the exhibitors who did, in fact, advance to the next round. They met her with compassion and encouragement. These children met her with a gracious professionalism that is rarely seen among adults. I have to believe that the green clover stitched onto those children's shirts had everything to do with the way the little girl reacted to adversity, who the crowed cheered for, and how the winners treated their fellow competitor. Today we have the task of laying the foundation upon which tomorrow's food system will be constructed. 4-H's teaching model was designed to provide youth opportunities for hands on learning about agriculture so as to ensure that these practical life skills continue to exist in our communities. Representatives from the Cooperative Extension Service offices have the mantle of preparing and enlisting each generation to be the stewards of, and have a vision for, tomorrow's agriculture. The clover, the very emblem of 4-H, is a legume which gives nutrients back to the soil to be used in the future. "I love what it represents," said Clark Caras, Executive Director of the Utah State Fair Park. "We constantly hear in the news about all the bad things kids do, but every morning tens of thousands of kids are hauling bales of hay to animals that they watched being born. There was always a living thing waiting, depending on me to take care of it. That's responsibility. I look back and I know what it did for my life." In the latter part of the 19th century, public university researchers began to make revolutionary agricultural discoveries and soon came to realize that established farmers were reluctant to implement the methods being developed on university campuses. Public educators soon understood, however, that youth were much more willing to experiment with newly developed methods and would often share their experiences with adults in the community. The youth also yearned for education that was tailored for them specifically. The mission from a century ago is at the core of the mission today. 4-H continues to be the conduit for introducing agricultural knowledge to local communities through the youth. 4-H is the largest youth organization in the United States. It is an organization that uses informal and hands on experience to teach life skills and sound agriculture. Kids as young as three and as old as eighteen can participate in 4-H activities, and as many as 90% of Utah's 4-H participants live in urban or suburban areas. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 made Cooperative Extension Services an appendage of Land-Grant Universities and Utah State University has dispatched a Cooperative Extension Service to each county in the state in order to facilitate the operation of 4-H clubs in every community that desires to have one. Today, 4-H is still a medium for teaching youth about industries that are pertinent to the success of our community. In addition to home economics and agriculture, 4-H provides hands on educational opportunities in fields such as robotics, alternative energy, entomology, and public speaking. "It doesn't matter if it's a horse, robotics, or cooking project; each and every activity is a means to teach life skills," said Vernon Parent, 4-H Associate Agriculture Extension Professor for Salt Lake County. And teach they do. Since the inception of 4-H, the hands on means of teaching has persevered. When you touch it, you learn it. The 4-H's learning model puts students in situations where they must truly learn to reconcile what happens when they apply a learned principle, what the consequences are, and what to do about it. These children are learning to apply this critical thinking model to issues like food supply and safety, climate change, and sustainable energy development. These children are being primed to make a difference–to be leaders. 4-H brings out the best in these children and makes it better. "4-H, also, represents my scholarship" said Caras. "I had the Champion Lamb at the State Fair for five years running. The sale of those animals paid my college tuition. Not only do I owe my education and my career to 4-H, but I know that those animals were raised by a friend." One might think that the youth involved in 4-H are the greatest beneficiaries of the organization's effect, and they may very well be. But we as a community feel the products of an organization that produces conscious, critical thinking citizens every day. At the time of Utah 4-H's birth, 83% of the state's population was rural. Today, seven times as many Utahns live in an urban community than the number of those who reside in a rural area. The face of 4-H reflects that change. Those involved with 4-H are not far-off and removed from the daily goings on of the Wasatch front cities, they are your neighbors and friends. In the last 100 years, 4-H has given thousands of young people the skills they need to become more self reliant and thereby better citizens. The 100 year old idea that an informal, hands on educational opportunity might excite and empower young people has snowballed into an institution with over 75,000 current members and 8,000 adult volunteers within the borders of our state alone. Even in the wake of having created one of the most influential organizations in a state rich with tradition, Utah 4-H's centennial celebration is as much a stimulus for the organizations forward progress as it is a commemoration of its accomplishments. Beginning July 12th at the Utah State University Logan Campus, the 4-H celebration will include games, reunions, contests for current members and alumni, and a host of educational workshops for anyone who would like to attend and experience first hand what can be learned. As I've asked the legions of friends and acquaintances who the most influential figures in 4-H are, the resounding reply is, "the kids." "Even if these kids never own a pig again for the rest of their lives they've been taught to think critically about judging the animal, they've been taught the responsibility of caring for the animal, and they've had first hand experience with where food comes from," said Eric Bleak, Agriculture teacher at Desert Hills High School. The kids bring these concepts into our homes and our classrooms. The ripple effect of those experiences will continue to swell for generations. As long as we have youth who "pledge their head to clearer thinking, their heart to greater loyalty, their hands to larger service, and their health to better living," then I have faith that we will, not only in agriculture but in every respect, be a better community, a better country, and a better world. Kyle Wilson is a husband and father, a fourth generation agrarian, an agricultural economist, an outdoorsman, a writer, and proprietor of Eden Valley Gardening Co.

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