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Yerimiah Evans\/FAMUAN<\/p>\nYerimiah Evans\/FAMUAN<\/p>\n
While Florida A&M University\u2019s\u00a0agricultural mission\u00a0remains\u00a0embedded in the university\u2019s foundation,\u00a0some students say the meaning behind the \u201cA\u201d in FAMU is not\u00a0always\u00a0front of mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes\u00a0I think people\u00a0forget what the\u00a0\u2018A\u2019\u00a0stands for,\u201d said Dillon Ford, a\u00a0second-year\u00a0master\u2019s student in food science. \u201cThey see agriculture and think it only means farming. They do not realize it is food systems, sustainability, environmental\u00a0science\u00a0and economic empowerment. Agriculture touches everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind academic buildings on campus, Ford works inside a greenhouse alongside fellow student Aaron Francis, tending rows of young plants that stretch toward filtered sunlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two students helped expand a campus garden initiative designed to reconnect students with agriculture through hands-on learning. The greenhouse has become a space where students from different\u00a0majors\u00a0volunteer, learn how crops grow and explore the science behind food production.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Francis, the larger issue is about understanding the role agriculture has played in Black history and economic independence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the history of Black land ownership and farming in this country, agriculture was about survival and independence,\u201d Francis said. \u201cLosing that connection means losing knowledge and opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across the United States, historically Black land-grant universities such as Florida A&M University have long played a role in agricultural research and education.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Concerns about that mission surfaced earlier\u00a0last\u00a0year when the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the 1890 National Scholars Program, a scholarship initiative that supports students attending the nation\u2019s historically Black land grant institutions. The program, which provides full\u00a0four-year\u00a0scholarships for students studying agriculture and related fields, was later reinstated after public criticism from education leaders and advocates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students at FAMU, the brief pause served as a reminder that the future of agricultural education is closely tied to federal commitment and continued student interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It renewed conversation about how many Black students are entering agricultural careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the start of the 20th century, Black farmers made up\u00a0roughly 14 percent\u00a0of farms in the United States. By 2022, that number had dropped to less than 2 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For some students, realizing agriculture\u2019s role at FAMU can begin in everyday moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the dining hall on campus, sophomore biology major Jordan Bennett said a simple lunch sparked a deeper realization about agriculture\u2019s role at the university.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sitting there eating a\u00a0salad\u00a0and we started talking about where the lettuce and tomatoes actually come from,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cYou realize that every ingredient on that plate started somewhere in agriculture. The food on our trays is connected to soil, research,\u00a0farmers\u00a0and science.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Bennett, the moment\u00a0reframed\u00a0how agriculture fits into the university\u2019s broader mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a biology major, you think about medicine, genetics and health,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cBut agriculture is connected to all of that. It is nutrition, plant science, environmental\u00a0systems. Once you start thinking about it, you realize the \u2018A\u2019 in FAMU is not just history. It is still shaping what we study and how we live.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students like Bennett say those realizations are helping spark new conversations across campus about the university\u2019s identity as a land grant institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ford said that awareness is exactly what he hopes students take away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone walks past and stops\u00a0to ask\u00a0what we are growing, that is the beginning of a conversation,\u201d Ford said. \u201cAnd once that conversation starts, people begin to understand that agriculture is part of everything around them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For many students, that realization is simple but\u00a0powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u00a0cannot say agriculture does not matter here,\u201d Ford said. \u201cIt is in the name.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a university founded to expand access to agricultural education for Black students, that mission continues to evolve through the next generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Ford, the responsibility feels personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0\u2018A\u2019\u00a0in FAMU is not just a letter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is\u00a0a legacy. And if our generation does not protect it, we risk forgetting the reason this university was built in the first place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As students move between classrooms, laboratories and campus walkways, Ford hopes more of them will stop and take a closer look at the small greenhouse tucked behind the buildings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because for him, that space represents the future as much\u00a0as\u00a0the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people start remembering what the\u00a0\u2018A\u2019\u00a0stands for,\u201d Ford said, \u201cthat is when a new era begins.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yerimiah Evans\/FAMUAN While Florida A&M University\u2019s\u00a0agricultural mission\u00a0remains\u00a0embedded in the university\u2019s foundation,\u00a0some students say the meaning behind the \u201cA\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-253467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}