Pressing Forward for Ag Literacy

If you want something done right, often, you have to do it yourself. That’s what the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture is doing when it comes to how children’s books portray agriculture. Believing that there should be more high-quality, enjoyable and, most of all, accurate books about agriculture available to children, the Foundation has launched Feeding Minds Press to help meet that need. The Foundation will publish its first title, “Right This Very Minute,” in January 2019. The book, by award-winning author Lisl Detlefsen, is about the foods we enjoy in our daily lives and the farmers and ranchers who are working right this very minute to grow it.

The Foundation has worked for years to identify “accurate ag books,” children’s books that are educational, not pointless or, worse, making the wrong point about how agriculture works and how our food is grown. Unfortunately, it is getting more difficult to find books that meet that standard. So the Foundation is turning a challenge into an opportunity!

Feeding Minds Press will publish two to three books per year, depending on the manuscripts it receives. To add value for authors, readers and educators, the Foundation will create educational resources to accompany the books it publishes, making the books great options for classrooms.

Do you know someone who has a story and would like to get it published? Feeding Minds Press is searching for manuscripts and will accept submissions throughout the month of March. Interested authors can learn more about what we’re looking for and how to submit a manuscript here: http://feedingmindspress.com/submissions.html.

Children start to form their views about the world very early. By publishing books for children that open their eyes to the vital role of agriculture in their everyday lives, Feeding Minds Press will help shape a positive perception about today’s agriculture. I look forward to seeing what comes from this publishing venture in the years ahead, and reading the published books to my own grandchildren!