WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 - Mary Tomlin’s third-grade class at Fayette Academy in Somerville, Tennessee, is getting ready for a very special visitor – Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields.
The visit is the grand prize in the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s “First Peas to the Table” contest, a national competition that encourages children to plant, raise and harvest peas. Ten schools competed to see who could grow the most peas in a three-month period using just 20 seeds.
Tomlin’s class came out on top, harvesting eight cups of peas. “I’m confident that students will enjoy hearing from Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields about her platform of ‘Eat Better, Live Better,’ which aims to educate people on how the foods we eat make an impact on our lives as a whole,” said Julia Recko, the Foundation’s education outreach director.
The contest highlights the Foundation’s 2016 Book of the Year, “First Peas to the Table,” by Susan Grigsby. The contest was created to help students understand the importance of healthy foods and agriculture in their everyday lives and to increase their understanding of how plants grow.
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