Consumers

Adult Agricultural Literacy Education: Beyond the Conventional Boundaries

Authors

Matthew M. Mars

The notion of agricultural literacy is firmly rooted in a movement that mostly targets elementary and secondary student populations with a curricular focus that is heavily anchored in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content (Kovar & Ball, 2013; Pense, Leising, Portillo, & Igo, 2005; Russell, McCracken, & Miller, 1990). In this dominant context, agricultural literacy is celebrated as a platform that simultaneously brings 'real life' applications to STEM curricula and provides K-12 students with a deeper understanding of where and how the foods, fibers, and natural resources they consume are produced. Unfortunately, the agricultural literacy movement has largely left out an important and significant demographic: adult learners. For example. Kovar and Ball (2013) found that only 12.2% of the' studies on agricultural literacy published between 1988-2011 addressed non-educator adults. This exclusion is problematic considering adults are the primary decision-makers when it comes to food and fiber consumption. The argument here is not that there is little value in expanding the agricultural knowledge of K-12 learners based on their consumer agency (or lack thereof). However, there is also little logic to neglecting the agricultural literacy needs and interests of adults, especially when considered in the consumer market context. Why has the agricultural literacy of adults been overlooked? The answer is that it has not! Adults have been mostly left out of the agricultural literacy narrative specific to formal learning. This near omission is not surprising considering the capacity to reach adult learners through formal education channels are relatively limited. One notable exception is post-secondary education, which represents a formal learning environment with unmet opportunity to expand the agricultural knowledge of young adult learners (Kovar & Ball, 2013). Moreover, not all adults attend a college or university, which further limits the scope of post-secondary education initiatives aimed at the dissemination of agricultural information and knowledge. [Faculty]

Additional Information

Date of publication:
2017

Research Categories

Subscribe to RSS - Consumers