We’re excited to partner with Earth Rangers to teach kids the importance of farmers in Canada and how you can practice regenerative agriculture in your own home and garden.
If you have young ones at home, then you’ll know that when the final school bell rings for the school year, that means it’s now time to keep the kids engaged and entertained for the next two months of summer.
It’s also an important opportunity to combat learning loss during the summer months. The term ‘learning loss’ refers to the loss of knowledge and skills, or a reversal in a student’s academic progress. This is often due to extended gaps in a student’s education and is commonly associated with the long summer break.
It can often be a struggle to find engaging summer activities for the kids to enjoy — and to equally learn from. In fact, a new survey we conducted found that more than half (56 per cent) of parents are tired of this yearly struggle, and more than three-quarters (81 per cent) are looking for activities that will keep their kids’ minds stimulated during school breaks. Almost all parents (94 per cent) want their kids to learn more about science, in particular.
We wanted to do something to help! We are excited to partner with Earth Rangers to create a new program for young kids across the country.
The Future Farmer Mission will educate young Canadians about simple sustainable farming techniques through free (yes, free — that means less out of your pockets!) at-home activities and challenge them to grow their own regenerative garden to complete their mission. Parents, this is an excellent chance to keep your kids’ minds growing and engaged during warmer summer months.
This mission launches on July 29, 2024, and highlights how effective soil management and changes to how we grow our food can help sustain Canada’s food supply for years to come.
Become a future farmer from your own home
Never heard of Earth Rangers? Let’s chat about why we’re proud supporters!
Earth Rangers is a charity program that empowers children to become environmental leaders in all parts of their lives — home, school, and through their communities. It’s for kids who have a real passion for protecting the environment we live in, and to help any and all children to develop confidence in making a positive difference in the future of our planet.
In 2023, we partnered with Earth Rangers for the ‘All Taste, No Waste’ challenge which reinforced how small changes can have a big impact on the environment. Over six months, more than 9,300 Earth Rangers across Canada completed more than 89,000 missions and used fun resources to learn about and log more than 119,000 sustainable food habits, such as ‘Being a Clean Plate Champion’ where kids only dished up as much as they could eat, saving 19,192 plates of food from landfill.
This year, we’re excited for a new mission, and we want your kids to join us!
The new Future Farmer Mission collaboration with Earth Rangers explores how regenerative agriculture helps to improve soil health, fight climate change, and increase biodiversity to ensure plants and animals thrive. To complete the mission, kids will:
- Learn about regenerative agriculture and how it helps our planet through interactive content
- Become a regenerative farmer by making their own composts and regenerative gardens at home (everyone can participate whether using a bucket, a planter or patch of land)
- Share what they’ve learned and grown at home with the Earth Rangers community
- Complete an eco-quiz to earn mission points and swag.
Teaching kids the value of regenerative farming
At Maple Leaf Foods, we care about the environment a lot! Did you know that we’ve made six Commitments to our environment, our animals, our food, our people, and our communities? We are a sustainable company, and we know that producing food impacts the planet — but we truly aim to reduce our impact and make a difference.
In fact, we’ve made ongoing progress in reducing our environmental impact by investing in regenerative agriculture practices, starting with 20,000 acres of cropland three years ago and expanding to 250,000 acres in 2024. We are also a founding member of the Canadian Alliance for Net-Zero Agri-food (CANZA).
Our passion for the environment is why we’re thrilled to support kids learning more about farming because Canada’s farms and farmers are vital! They feed not only us, but also the world. Canada has lots of farmland and water, but a small number of people, so we can produce excess food and provide our crops to other countries. Farmers also care for their land and work hard to improve it. Canadian farmers use methods like “regenerative agriculture” to enhance their soil, water, and air.
Never heard of regenerative agriculture? It’s a way of farming that aims to improve the health of the soil, water, and air. It involves practices such as crop rotation, cover crops, composting, and no-till farming. These practices help to increase the organic matter and biodiversity in the soil, which can store more carbon and water, prevent erosion, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture also benefits the farmers by increasing their yields, reducing their costs, and enhancing their resilience to climate change. Regenerative agriculture is good for the environment, the farmers, and the consumers.
Now that you know what regenerative agriculture is, you and your family can do the same in your own gardens! And you can do that by taking part in this mission.
The Future Farmer Mission can be accessed for free through the Earth Rangers App beginning Monday, July 29. You can get the app on the App Store on Apple, Google Play on Android, or the Amazon App Store.
To keep yourself updated, you can drop a follow to Dr. Sarah Habibi, PhD (@sarahahabibi), scientist, educator and content creator, who will be using her social media platform to bring the mission to life and provide activity tips on social media as she takes on the mission at home with her son.
You can also visit BC Parent to read about our mission and how parents in B.C. can get involved with their kids.
Join the mission and keep learning strong this summer!
