Delia Jackson is a fan of agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic showed her just how important and resilient the ag industry is and how vital it is for youth to be involved.
Delia, an animal science grad, was a meat and poultry inspector for state and federal plants in Illinois during the pandemic.
“I’m watching the entire world almost shut down, except for the agriculture industry which was almost booming in the pandemic,” Delia says. “We still need our food. We still need our fiber. We still need our fuel. All of those three things come down to agriculture.”
As she observed friends in non-agricultural jobs worry about job security during the pandemic, her friends in agriculture felt secure, she said.
That’s when her perspective on her life’s purpose shifted.
“I have lived through a time where everything was so uncertain, where we couldn’t leave our homes; yet, agriculture was still thriving, and it will thrive, because it’s necessary,” Delia says. “Agriculture is absolutely necessary for everything that we do every day.”
With clarity of purpose, Delia made a mid-career shift to teaching, saying, “I have to tell kids about this.”
An opening at the Dwayne O. Andreas Ag Academy was available, and within three months at the age of 35, Delia began teaching agriculture to 300 students a year and serving as the school’s FFA advisor.
Delia wasn’t raised on a farm, though her involvement in Coles County 4-H and Extension did prepare her for the visionary leadership that was needed for the classroom.
Lessons from a chicken
One day, Delia brought a chicken to her classroom and discovered none of the 30 students in the classroom had ever seen a live chicken. Delia realized that her students would benefit from additional hands-on experience.
So, she added pigs to the farm, and the students began earning volunteer credit hours for working, feeding, and doing farm maintenance.
“They’re learning how to care for something other than themselves,” Delia says. “They’re learning where their food comes from and also what it takes to be in animal agriculture.”
Students have also begun to understand how their studies in other classes are put to use at the farm.
“We have them working on fences and building enclosures which is giving them a look into the ag mechanics industry,” Delia says. “There’s a purpose now to their learning; there’s a purpose to math.”
Donation to Good Samaritan opens door to new funding
Their first pigs were harvested, and the meat was donated to the Good Samaritan Inn in Decatur. The organization provides 500 free meals a day, 365 days a year. It was after one of these deliveries that Good Samaritan staff told Delia a way to make an even greater impact through a new program coordinated by University of Illinois Extension.
The USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Program provides food banks with funds to purchase locally sourced food from local producers at retail prices. In Illinois, it operates as IL-EATS.
Through this program, the school now provides 500 pounds of ground pork a month to the Northeast Community Fund in Decatur for distribution to foodbanks and pantries. To date, the school has raised 20 pigs for the program. The meat is processed and stored at Dutch Valley Meats in Arthur.
Putting profit to good use
The school farm continues to provide pork to Good Samaritan Inn. With their expanded relationship, Good Samaritan now employs students during summer to assist at the pantry.
With the added revenue from the IL-EATS program the school now pays four students per semester to work at the school’s farm.
The money also allows the school to pay the full conference fees for its FFA members, many of whom lack financial resources. The school has expanded the rabbit and hog operation on the farm and purchased classroom supplies for additional hands-on learning activities.
“IL-EATS has benefited the students financially, benefitted our community, and benefitted our educational programs,” Delia says. “There have been so many things created just because of this one little program.”
Next big step
Four years ago, Delia intentionally chose to teach in an urban environment.
“I wanted to be sure that people who don’t have exposure to agriculture were getting the right message,” Delia says. Her message is being heard; several students are already interning in ag-related businesses and considering ag careers.
Delia has initiated discussions with the district and the district’s food provider to begin providing meat for the district’s students. She says the IL-EATS experience has provided valuable experience about meeting supply and demand.
“How cool would it be to get our kids raising the meat our kids eat.”
To learn more and support Delia’s agriculture efforts, visit the Dwayne O. Andreas Ag Academy website.