Making Lemonade: Making the best of a difficult Situation

from May 2021

Food Safety and Your Garden Produce

By: BRIANNA PAYNE

When life gives you lemons what do you do with them? 2020 was full of lemons and we are still getting them in 2021. The fact is, it was a crazy year for everyone, from virtual competitions and conventions to canceled events and quarantine. The way FFA works may have been altered but our mission is still the same: To promote the agriculture industry. Lincoln FFA has been striving to make a difference in the lives of members in hopes that we would soon get back to a sense of normalcy. Our chapter has held a membership drive, helped run a horse show through COHA, run in-person meetings, and held a voter registration drive all during the first semester.

Last year, I created an ag literacy program at Lincoln Elementary school for preschool to fifth-grade students where I create lessons and activities to teach the kids. This year the program has worked a little differently, so instead of teaching the lesson myself, I began sending the lesson plan complete with all the materials to the teachers for them to show to their kids since I wasn’t able to go to the school myself due to COVID-19 regulations. Before school let out for Christmas break, I decided I wanted to move

**Brianna conducting a chapter visit with Spring Garden FFA.**

the program to a virtual platform so that students would be able to access them, even at home. This idea transformed into the Facebook page “Rooted in Ag.” On this page, I create mini-lessons that are agriculturally related and film them. From there, I edit the videos to make them appealing to younger kids and then post the finished product on Facebook. The chapter officer team has helped me to film these videos and taught me different editing techniques. A few members have been featured in the videos participating in the activity that goes along with my lesson.

This project is a part of my SAE in Agriscience education and started out as just a project, but now it has developed into a part of my purpose. My purpose is to educate others and let them know that they are important through friendships and communication. This project has helped me expand my purpose far beyond what I had ever imagined. “Rooted in Ag” has enabled my chapter to stay involved in the lives of our members and bring awareness to agriculture, even through these difficult times.

Lincoln FFA has pushed through to create an educational and memorable year for their members, but has also done the same for the community. Our chapter has been working towards a farm day, competing in CDEs and LDEs through FFA and completing community service hours. COVID-19 has given obstacle after obstacle, but my chapter has learned to face the challenges head on to accomplish our purpose as FFA members, to promote the agriculture industry and be an ally to those involved in the industry. Now when life gives you lemons, what do you do with them? Well as for the Lincoln FFA, we made lemonade!