Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s ag aware benefits Local ffa Chapters

BY SABRA STAFFORD

The Modesto Chamber of Commerce held their 26th annual Ag Aware luncheon April 20, with keynote speaker Shannon Douglas, the First Vice President of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The luncheon serves as a significant scholarship fundraiser for the FFA chapters in Modesto — Central Catholic, Beyer, Davis, Enochs, Gregori, Johansen, Downey and Modesto high schools.

Featured during the luncheon were FFA students Roman Rodriguez and Elizabeth Romero, both from Johansen High School.

Romero joined FFA later in her high school years and wished she had joined earlier because of all the opportunities the organization has provided to her.

“Johansen is the only school in our district that has a farm-to-fork program,” Romero said. “I joined this class my junior year of high school and I was pleased to find out that it was no ordinary cooking class. In this class we learned important skills like being able to make a variety of nutritionally balanced mix. We go into depth about ingredients we cook with and how they work in our bodies. By taking this class I have been given opportunities to help in my chapter in ways I never thought. For example, when our school hosted the CATA meeting for our advisors. My fellow officers and I prepared the food, which was a taco bar for the advisors and staff attending the meeting.”

Romero wasn’t able to attend the state conference last year because of financial constraints, so she knew firsthand the importance of events like Ag Aware that generate funds.

“This is why your donations are so important to not just me but to others as well,” she said.

Rodriguez told the attendees that he was not a typical “ag kid.”

“Before joining FFA the closest I had ever been to ag or FFA was to go to Dutch Hollow Farms every year with my family.”

He got into the ag class because his AP physics class was overcrowded. Now, he serves as the Johansen FFA president. Rodriguez credits FFA for making him a solid public speaker, which includes some competition awards and getting him and others involved in community service.

Douglass, as the keynote speaker, also touched on the role FFA played in her own life.

“FFA was a place for me and somewhere I could get involved,” Douglass said. “And nobody seemed concerned that I wasn’t from a farm because a lot of my peers weren’t either. “There’s a place in FFA for anyone who has an interest and passion for agriculture.”

Douglass also serves as a director of the Glenn County Farm Bureau and is the former chair of the CFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers State Committee. She also founded Cal Ag Jobs, an online listing of employment agricultural job opportunities.

Douglass and her husband own Douglass Ranch, which raises beef cattle, sunflowers, pumpkins, corn and forage crops.