PITTSTOWN, N.J. (May 20, 2022) – As part of an ongoing effort to help families understand where their food comes from, thousands of students from across the country will have the opportunity to visit a New York dairy farm without ever leaving their classroom.
American Dairy Association North East is teaming up with Spring Run Dairy in Pittstown, N.J., for two free virtual farm tours on Thursday, May 26. A tour geared toward students in grades 6-12 will take place at 11 a.m., while kindergarten through fifth graders can tune in at 1 p.m. These exciting and live tours will give students a chance to learn directly from dairy farmers about life on the farm, how farmers care for their cows and how dairy foods are produced in a sustainable way.
Along with the virtual tour, American Dairy Association North East is providing free lesson plans for participating schools. That means the tours are not only engaging and fun for students, but they also meet curriculum standards.
“I’m excited to host our first Virtual Farm Tour,” says dairy farmer and tour host Sarah Lyness of Spring Run Dairy. “Welcoming students and teachers to our farm virtually will help them understand how milk gets from our farm to their fridge and school,” Lyness said. “It’s exciting for me because showing young people where their food comes from is important to me as a farmer.”
American Dairy Association North East has been working with local dairy farmers to bring their farms to the classroom since launching the Virtual Farm Tour concept in 2018, with a total of 18 tours hosted live by nine different farmers from New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. These tours, which have grown in popularity as an informative and engaging activity for students have nearly 500,000 views and are available here.
To register for this tour or other upcoming tours, visit www.AmericanDairy.com/Tour.