Les Agriteliers

Helping Children Discover the True Face of Québec Agriculture

“Brown cows produce chocolate milk,” “A chicken lays a dozen eggs a day,” and “Kiwis are grown in Québec” are all popular beliefs that bear witness to a widespread general lack of knowledge in regard to agriculture. There is without doubt a great need to give people living in the cities, and even those in rural areas, a new more contemporary and above all more realistic vision of twentieth century agriculture.

Fortunately, over the past few years, there has been a trend towards getting back to basics. More and more consumers want a behind-the-scenes look at what’s on their plates. It was to meet this need, and to break certain myths, that a group of students at the Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation (FSAA) at Université Laval devised a series of educational workshops aimed at enhancing the image of agriculture among children between the ages of 3 and 10.

The Agriteliers were created in 2003 and were a rapid success in elementary schools and childcare centres in the Québec City area. Having started with a few workshops a year, by the spring of 2007, the Agriteliers were fully booked for the first time in their short history. During the 2006-2007 school year, 25 groups for a total of approximately 550 children took part in the workshops.

The 30-minute workshops touch on various subjects such as the processing of dairy products, fruit and vegetable growing and pig farming, which is always very popular because of the presence of real piglets.

The content and games are adapted according to the school and age of the children. “The activities are varied, well structured and stimulating for the children but still have a pedagogical nature,” said Marie-Josée Allard, owner of the Dandinosaure day-care centre where Agriteliers workshops have been held.

The Agriteliers are also popular with students at FSAA who, while continuing to pursue their university studies, are always ready to volunteer their time and energy to help children better understand how the agricultural system works and the origin of the food they eat. Since the beginning, some 25 enthusiastic students with a desire to share with children their vision of agriculture have been involved in the educational association. They have been able to use the knowledge acquired in class and have learned to popularize this information while improving their communication skills.

For Jean-Paul Laforest, dean of FSAA, there is “absolutely no doubt that this student program is here to stay.” He even believes that the Agriteliers will become “a key source of information on the agri-food industry.” “The foundations are solid, the vision is clear and the mandate of better informing youngsters about agriculture and the agri-food industry is highly commendable,” he asserted. “It is also an ideal breeding ground for learning to communicate, to share and to serve the community.

Participating students develop alongside the children they meet with and thus contribute to the greater well-being of society as a whole.”

Les Agriteliers