About Us
The Renfrew Agvocates are a grassroot organization founded in Renfrew in 2021 aiming to increase engagement with the agriculture community. Our mission is Creating connections to educate our community about agriculture and its opportunities. With the ongoing pandemic and uncertainty surrounding in-person meetings, activities, and school, our first initiative is our “Adopt-A-Farmer” Program.
Adopt-A-Farmer Program
The adopt a farmer program will run from September 2021 until June 2022 and allow elementary school classrooms to adopt a farmer and learn about their business through virtual farm visits, monthly check-ins, and correspondence. The farmer would meet with the class virtually at least three times throughout the school year. These virtual visits would allow the farmer to introduce themself and their operation to the class. A tour of the farm, and an overview of the business would allow the students to connect with their adoptee. Additional virtual visits would allow the students to ask questions, be updated on the operations of the farm, and allow the farmer to pose questions and ideas to the students. Between virtual visits, the farmer would check-in with their class through pictures, letters, pre-recorded videos, and social media.
This program is an opportunity for farmers to share their work and passion with the community in Eastern Ontario/Renfrew. Students will have the opportunity to learn about a specific commodity directly from the farmer. Additionally, they will see what day-to-day life is like on a farm. Finally, through additional resources provided to the teacher by the Renfrew County AgVocates, students will gain an understanding of the agriculture industry and how many common food items are grown.
Overall, the vision of the Renfrew County Agvocates is to strengthen our community through local connections to farmers and our food. We want to create a network that will allow producers to connect, learn, and socialize, while helping increase ag education in the county.
