Food and farms form some of my earliest childhood memories. My grandmother purchased eggs from a local farmer. Waiting in the front seat of her Pontiac, I remember being intrigued by the fact that eggs didn’t always come from the grocery store.

Since that time, the U.S. population has become even more urban. Today’s children are more likely than ever to live nowhere near a farm. And, city dwellers are increasingly looking for ways they can connect with nearby farms and educate their children about where food really comes from. This interest is called “agritourism,” and it’s growing, in Georgia and beyond, as a source of added-value income down on the farm. Check out what these area farms have to offer.

DECIMAL.PLACE FARM
Conley, Georgia

Just where does milk come from? Farmer Mary Hart not only answers this question for the children who visit her farm on field trips, she also lets them try their hand at milking one of her over 20 Saanen goats in milk production.

Typically, the tour starts with an introduction. “We talk about who we are and that part of farming is conservation,” says Mary. After milking a goat—the most gentle, of course—human kids pet the goat kids then head for a nature discovery walk in the nearby woods. Back at the milking parlor, tour participants scoop cheese curds from the whey and sample cheeses before heading out for a picnic in the pasture.

Hosting field trips is no rote process; every child brings their own unique perspective to the experience. Says Mary, “The questions these children ask are really insightful and incredible. One fourth-grade boy wanted to know about soil and water percolation and how I address that. Other kids in his class wanted to know how my balance sheet worked!”
For Mary, it’s those experiences that endear her to the field trip experience. She adds, “there are so many different experiences that help shape each one of our lives—this is a place that’s safe for children to wander and explore, that challenges their muscles and their sense of adventure.”

HOLT HERITAGE FARM
www.holtfarmsupply.com
Kingston, Georgia

You’ve heard of soccer camp and even circus camp, but what about farm camp? Georgia and Chaz Holt of Holt Heritage Farm launched their five-day summer farm camp this June.

“Each day of the camp follows a different theme,” describes Georgia. “Depending on the age group of the kids, my goal is to cover one area of sustainable farming each day, incorporating backyard knowledge so that they can take what they learn on the farm and use it in their own yards.”
The program aims to encourage the kids to become observers and to develop different relationships with the things around them—birds, edible flowers, beneficial insects, and an appreciation for the work that goes into growing something as deceptively simple as a carrot. For four hours each day of the camp, kids learn and explore then share their findings with each other. Ultimately, kids learn how the food they eat is connected with their environment.

Georgia, using her experience as a teacher and now as a farmer, is enthused about transforming kids’ initial fear of fresh food so that they come to prefer a carrot ripped fresh out of the earth over a machine-turned version from a plastic bag. Giving an educational tour of the farm to her after-school program participants from Cartersville, Georgia, she describes the questions kids pose when confronted with peas picked straight off of the vine: “What do I do with it?” they ask. “You can just bite it?” Georgia responds: “Yes, you just bite it.”

WHIPPOORWILL HOLLOW ORGANIC FARM
www.whippoorwillhollowfarm.com
Covington, Georgia

The certified organic Whippoorwill Hollow is home to not only the occasional field tour and school group, they’ve transformed the concept to larger events.

“Of course we do the school groups, civic groups and other things like that,” says Andy Byrd. Tours typically last about two hours and can include as many as 125 people at a time. “Kids come out here from the city and say, ‘I’ve never walked in the woods before,’” relays Byrd. Three years ago, an urge to have even larger groups visit the farm inspired Andy and his wife, Hilda, to host their first Earth Day celebration. The community got involved, and with the support of Walton Clean and Beautiful over 200 people attended what’s now an annual event each April.

The Byrds quickly followed suit with another large event: their Native American Pow Wow, a summer festival that encompasses education about Native America heritage, vendors that sell arts and crafts, and demonstrations that teach people of earlier ways. The festival, held in late June, attracts 400 people each year, from New York to Oklahoma to, of course, Atlanta.

Hosting larger events takes more effort, but to the Byrds, nothing matches the feeling they get from knowing they’re making a positive impact in people’s lives. One young man, after attending their Field of Greens event in October 2005, was inspired to enroll in culinary school. The Byrds enthusiastically relay his description of his farm epiphany: “I remember seeing rows of plants and thinking that’s food!”

CARLTON FARMS
www.carltonfarm.com
Rockmart, Georgia

This working dairy farm located west of Atlanta has become an old hand at the farm tour business. Last fall was their seventh year of fall tours. “Fall tours are focused around the five-acre corn maze, the pumpkin patch and hay rides…all of those farm fall activities,” describes Chad Carlton. The fall tour was so jam-packed with activities, the Carlton family had to add a spring tour three years ago so that they could educate children about what had formerly been the farm’s bread and butter: dairy production.

In the spring, “kids get to tour the dairy and the milking parlor, see cows being milked, and ask questions,” says Chad. As opposed to petting zoos, the Carlton’s take pride in their farm being a real, working farm. “We find that the kids know nothing about agriculture,” relays Chad, “so we try not to fabricate a lot of what they see and show real-life examples to make it educational.”

The Carlton family’s farm has come full circle. Financial crisis, when the dairy business was in bad shape, first motivated them to diversify into agritourism. The people attracted to the farm, in turn, have revitalized the Carlton family’s dairy business by generating a market for other products. What role did agritourism play? “To be perfectly honest,” says Chad, “it saved our farm.”

Suzanne Welander is the communications director for Georgia Organics (GO), a member-supported nonprofit organization working to integrate healthy, sustainable and locally grown food into the lives of all Georgians. For more information about GO, visit www.georgiaorganics.org.

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