Students and volunteers throughout Alabama will honor farmers’ year-round work to feed the world as the state celebrates Farm-City Week Nov. 21-27.

“Agriculture: 365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths to Feed” is the theme for National Ag Day and Farm-City activities this year.

“As the sun comes up on Alabama agriculture each day, we find farmers feeding cows, walking through chicken houses, working on farm machinery, planting crops, harvesting fields, greeting customers at the farmers market, watching the weather and praying for blessings from above,” said Alabama Farm-City Committee Chairman Jeff Helms. “But, if we look closer, we’ll also see them creating habitat for wildlife, protecting streams from erosion, helping neighbors, leading communities, teaching children and creating jobs for thousands in nearby towns and cities.”

Farm-City Week is a chance to educate children and adults about the contributions farmers make to society and how rural families depend on their city neighbors to deliver the promise of abundant food and fiber.

Seven billion people worldwide depend on agriculture for sustenance, and the number is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. That means each farmer must not only continue feeding about 155 people, but he or she also must find ways to be more efficient and productive.

In Alabama, Farm-City Week activities include farm tours, banquets, civic club events, food drives and youth activities. The Farm-City poster, essay and multimedia contests are among the most popular programs. 

“Thanks to volunteers like our county Young Farmers and Women’s Leadership divisions, Alabama has one of the strongest Farm-City programs in the country,” Helms said. “‘Agriculture: 365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths to Feed’ is another reminder that we should never take our food — or the rural-urban partnerships that bring it to our tables — for granted.”

Visit AlabamaFarmCity.org for more information about Farm-City.