FFA Members Aim to Make a Difference in a World Full of Hunger

FFA members pose with some “Hunger Heroes” in the National FFA Expo.

By Kelly Fager, National FFA Convention & Expo Newsroom Intern

Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve may be the words of the FFA motto but living out these words is one way to make a difference. With more than one billion hungry people in this world, FFA members are challenged to “Ignite” their passion to serve.

Attending “Global Hunger – Our Generation’s Challenge and Solutions” at the 86th National FFA Convention & Expo was one of many opportunities to learn about hunger in this world.

Tessa Reis, an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, stressed that members are the next generation, and it’s up to this generation to make an impact.

Those attending the workshop also heard about Howard G. Buffett’s, “40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World”. The book describes how farmers have 40 productive seasons in their lifetime of being an agriculturalist. FFA members were challenged to use their 40 chances to make a difference.

Katy Barr, a member of the Doddridge FFA Chapter from West Virginia attended this workshop and shared that she has participated in Rally for Hunger and her chapter does food drives as a service project. By attending this workshop she wanted to find ways to share with her chapter what she learned.

With food security being a growing concern, FFA members had group discussions over complex factors that influence global hunger. Those factors: Access to technology and tools, growing conditions, trade and markets, and education.

“You don’t have to be interested in a specific area of hunger,” said workshop presenter Nicole Liles, an undergraduate at the University of Florida. “Use your strengths to make an impact.”

Kelly Fager is an agricultural communication major at The Ohio State University. Originally from Wauseon, Ohio, Kelly was a member of the Wauseon FFA Chapter and American degree recipient in 2012.