KNOW & GROW: FOOD & AGRICULTURE Q&As FOR ALL AGES
Food and agricultural sciences play an important role in everyone’s lives, every day. Approximately 28 percent of the world’s population is employed in agriculture. The people in these jobs are responsible for generating the food we eat, the clothes we wear and many of the building materials for our homes.
Below are 72 questions and answers from the Virginia State University College of Agriculture State Fair Exhibit, “Know & Grow.” This resource can be used by teachers, parents or anyone who wants to test their knowledge or that of others about a wide range of food, agriculture, health and nutrition topics relevant to today. Questions are loosely group by topic area.
ESSAY OR GROUP TOPIC DISCUSSION
Imagine you’re a food scientist or play a leading role in the agricultural industry. How many different ways can you think of that will help safely increase the world’s food production in the next 30 years by 70% to feed the approximate 10 billion people on the plant? (That’s 2.2 billion more people today.) What are they?
STATE FAIR OF VIRGINIA VIDEO ESSAY COMPETITION (Deadline: Nov. 5, 2021)
(For Grades 9-12 Only) Create a short video (no more than one min., similar to a TicTok) on how you would address the fact that the world’s food production must safely and sustainably increase by about 70% in the next 30 years to feed the approximate 10 billion people on the plant in 2050. (That’s 2.2 billion more people today.)
Then, visit https://tinyurl.com/vcevideo2021, create a folder and name it with your first and last name. 1) Upload your video to the folder. 2) Upload a document to the folder with your name, age, grade, school name, parent or teacher email address and phone number, and (optional) your email address and phone number. VSU faculty will select three winners by the end of the year. Winners and their families will receive a private tour of VSU’s Agricultural Research Station and 416-acre farm; meet with food scientists and Cooperative Extension specialists to learn what working in agriculture is really like; and have their video shared on the Virginia Cooperative Extension website and social media sites.
African-American Contributions to Virginia’s Agriculture Industry
African Americans have played an important role in building the foundation of Virginia’s agriculture industry and continue to serve as innovative producers, educators and government leaders who are elevating the agriculture and forestry industries to new heights both in Virginia and across the nation. Learn more about these leaders by watching these short videos: https://vsucoa.smugmug.com/African-American-Agricultural-Leaders-VSU/.
To learn more about the VSU College of Agriculture, visit: www.vsu.edu/agriculture.