California, I believe, is the land of Agriculture. Did you know that California supplies a lot of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts to the rest of the United States of America? That is why agriculture is so important here. It’s why we celebrate Agriculture Day. California Agriculture Day was on March 19. I also want to note that Sacramento (the capital of California) is the Farm-to-Fork capital of the nation. You can find a lot of Farmer’s Markets in California.

                Here are some of the participants in the California Agriculture Day.

• California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
• California Association of Egg Farmers
• California State Floral Association
• California Walnut Board
• California Dried Plum
• California Poultry
• Dairy Council (June is National Dairy Month!)
• Ag in the Classroom
• USDA Rural Development

There was a lot more but I just mentioned a few above.

It is amazing how much goes into our agriculture. Whether is is the farmers themselves or the policy makers, it’s all important. Each station had hand-outs, activities, or free samples. The activities helped reinforce some things related to agriculture. One of the activities was answering questions about which nut, fruit, or vegetable is mainly grown in which county in California. It was very educational.

Some of the other samples were deviled eggs, ice cream, steak sandwiches, pork sausages, milk, lamb, dried plums, walnuts, peaches and a lot of other things. The kids enjoyed the ice cream (I helped one of my co-workers watch his kids. The event gets crowded!). There were also animals, which the kids loved petting and holding.  What was great was that it was a nice, warm, sunny day. It rained last year.

There was even a smoothie bike, which is awesome! You get to burn calories while making the smoothie. Pedaling on the bike makes the smoothie start blending.

Here is one of my co-workers, Austin, who was one of the people in charge of the event.

I really enjoyed the event. It was a great way to celebrate all of the diverse agriculture going in California. I learned a lot from visiting all of the booths and tasting the fresh foods they had. Remember that March 25, 2014 is National Agriculture Day.

What is your favorite fruit? Vegetable? Nut? 

–I have so many! I love apples, strawberries, tomatoes, cashews, almonds, peanuts and a lot more! 

Have you tried pedaling on a smoothie bike? 

-It’s fun!