Happy National Agriculture Week (March 15-21)! National Agriculture Day is Friday, March 20. Why do we celebrate Ag Day? Every single person encounters agriculture many times in one day. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear to the paper and pencils we use each day we are using agriculture.

During this National Agriculture Week and Day take some time to think about what your life would be like without agriculture. Why not spread the word and tell others how important agriculture is. Why else do we celebrate? Below are some reasons taken from www.agday.org.

1) Increasd knowledge of agriculture and nutrition allows individuals to make informed personal choices about diet and health.

2) Informed citizens will be able to participate in establishing policies that will support a competitive agricultural industry in this country and abroad.

3) Employment opportunities exist across the board in agriculture. Career choices include farm production; agribusiness management and marketing; agriculture research and engineering; food science; processing and retailing; banking; education; landscape architecture; urban planning; energy; and many others.

4) Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through 12th grade, all students should receive some systematic instruction about agriculture.

5) Agriculture is too important a topic to be taught only to the small percentage of students considering careers in agriculture and pursuing vocational agricultural studies.

6) Agricultural literacy includes an understanding of agriculture's history and current economic, social, and environmental significance to all Americans. This understanding includes some knowledge of food, fiber, and renewable resource production, processing and domestic and international marketing.

For more information visit www.agday.org.

March is National Nutrition Month. Celebrate by knowing where your food comes from. University of Illinois Extension has some great websites that can help you learn about different foods. Check them out!

Fresh from the World...Where Your Food Comes From can be found at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/food/. On this interactive website you can learn that cacao is used in making chocolate or that a watermelon is 92% water. Learn about cacao, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas, peanuts, pumpkins, rice, oranges, coffee, potatoes, watermelon, apples, tea, carrots and popcorn.

Food Fun - From Apples to Zucchini gives the student (or adult) a chance to learn about fruits and vegetables from every letter in the alphabet. Visit this site at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/foodfun/ to learn what Indhlubu or Quince are. Fun facts and online coloring pages fill this nutritious website!

Sports and Nutrition can be found at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hsnut/. Here the audience can learn about the importance of hydrating yourself, keeping energy levels up and more.