Saw an article about a “petting zoo” of sort as part of an agricultural fair (didn’t sound like a state fair). The purpose was to increase awareness of animals in agriculture (you know; so that all kids don’t think eggs magically come from the grocery store).
They mentioned that the attendance was down this year; that is just sad to me but I doubt that that trend is only happening there. People seem to care less and less about Ag, they just want their cheap food (well in the US, but I think that is a modernization trend that is happening to different degrees throughout the world).
I have three little cousins, two of which, in my opinion, had gross misconceptions about animals. I was pleased as punch when their tiny little brother practically had to be held back from our dog where as his sisters literally screamed once when I (without-thinking, sorry Emma) opened the door to let the dog in. Well I suppose they didn’t want to be out done by their toddler brother so they (cautiously) petted the dog (who is the antithesis of vicious, she is not the most playful dog but in the life game of “fight or flight” she is all flight) with the parting statement “well I guess I *might* like shbear [the dog] next time” well it’s a start.
It just shows how kids really need exposure to animals, yeah I know only a fraction of kids will actually work with animals but it helps; it helps to know not all animals are out to maul you, it helps to know where eggs come from. It helps to know that your hotdog comes from a living creature, shrimp aren’t naturally headless, and eggs don’t magically appear in the grocery store; food and where it comes from is not something that should be taken for granted.
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