BSWCD News Release

When you picked up your spoon to eat food today, did you think about where the food came from? Did you make a connection to the dairy and grain farmer as you ate a bowl of cereal? Or the hay or grain the dairy cow ate or the fact that the grain and hay grew in the soil? People sometimes take for granted that it’s so easy to go to the grocery store to buy food.

It’s a long process to get the food from the soil to the grocery-store shelf.

The world population is on the rise, while agricultural land is shrinking. A careful balance will be required to make more room for more people, while at the same time providing more food to feed those people. Be sure to thank your local agriculture producers for their role in caring for the land, while providing the food and fiber for our nation and the world.

2012 marks the 57th year of the National Association of Conservation Districts’ National Stewardship Week. Help Beaufort Soil and Water Conservation District celebrate Stewardship Week, themed “Soil to Spoon,” through Sunday. Beaufort SWCD is a member of the NACD, which represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, all of which were established to encourage resource conservation across the country.

“Soil to Spoon” educational materials in the form of placemats for restaurants and schools, bookmarks for libraries and educational booklets will be distributed around Beaufort County by the district for Stewardship Week.

For more information about Stewardship Week and conservation, contact Beaufort SWCD at 252-946-4989, ext. 3. Additional information about the “Soil to Spoon” project and other natural-resources education is available on the NACD website at www.nacdnet.org/education/resources/.