Published: November 14, 2008 10:27 am      

Students learn where their food comes from

Does chocolate milk really come from brown, Swiss dairy cows?

The answer is an unqualified no, some 515 fourth grade students from Johnson County learned during Agriculture Literacy Day on Thursday at Tom Frank Jones Arena at the Sheriff’s Posse Grounds.

The event, officially titled Domino’s Pizza Ranch, was sponsored by Domino’s Pizza and organized by Johnson County 4-H. Instructed by such professionals as Todd Griffin of Southwest Dairy Center in Sulphur Springs, the children learned about the various ingredents in pizzas.

“We have swine here for pepperoni, ham and Canadian bacon,” said Texas AgriLife Extension agent Zach Davis. “We have all the herbs and spices that go into the pizza sauce. We have tomatoes and peppers. We have cattle. For the specialty pizzas, we’ve added poultry.

“We have the mobile dairy classroom [for milking demonstrations]. And we have a petting zoo, which is a fun event. Basically, we’re trying to teach where everything comes from and that, without agriculture, everybody would be hungry.”

Information from 4-H and Future Farmers of America was available.

“We put some literature in each student’s packet,” Davis said. “We let them know there are youth organizations out there that can help them build character and find career choices.”

For more information on 4-H, call 817-556-6370.