Summer Learning Comes to Life Through Our Partnership with Fun in the Sun
Students with Fun In The Sun learning about the grape vines at Allan Hancock’s Student Farm with educator Andrew.
This summer, SEEAG had the pleasure of partnering with the organization, Fun in the Sun (FITS), to bring hands-on agricultural education to more than 200 students across Santa Barbara County. Through this collaboration, we welcomed students from communities including Guadalupe, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Solvang, giving them the opportunity to explore where their food comes from and discover the many ways agriculture impacts their everyday lives.
The journey began with Part One of the program, an interactive lesson that introduced students to the food supply chain. Through engaging activities and discussions, students learned how food travels from farm to table and how farmers, truck drivers, grocery store workers, consumers, and many others all play important roles in feeding our communities. This lesson helped the FITS students understand that we are all connected to agriculture.
Next, students headed out to the Allan Hancock College Student Farm for Part Two: the Farm Field Trip. Here, students explored agriculture firsthand through four interactive learning stations focused on the essential systems that support food production:
Water Station – Discovering the water cycle and the importance of irrigation.
Plant Station – Learning how crops grow and what plants need to thrive. Here, each student gets to plant their own crop to take care of outside of the program.
Bug Station – Exploring beneficial insects, pollinators, and learning how bugs provide pest management.
Soil Station – Investigating healthy soil composition, learning what loams are, and their role in growing food.
The experience concluded with Part Three: The Food Lab, where SEEAG educators guided students through preparing a simple, healthy recipe using fresh ingredients. As they prepped together, students made direct connections between the crops they explored on the farm and the foods they were eating. The lesson also introduced composting, helping students understand how food scraps can be returned to the soil to support future food production. This final activity brought the Farm to Food Lab experience full circle while providing a fun and memorable way to reinforce key concepts.
Our partnership with FITS allowed us to inspire curiosity, encourage healthy eating habits, and foster a deeper appreciation for agriculture among our students this summer.
Interested in bringing the Farm to Food Lab program to your students? Visit our Farm to Food Lab page on the SEEAG website to learn more about the program and how you can get involved.
