Mr. Forrest Pritchard, author of Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm, the 2025 CommunityREAD book, spoke to our agriculture education students this morning as a precursor to his feature presentation tonight at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts.
Pritchard shared his career journey as a farmer and New York Times bestselling author of three books to encourage students to learn more about where their food is coming from locally so they can invest in farmers in their communities.
With 150 students in grades 8-12 participating in our agriculture education department, classes such as Ag Business, taught by Mrs. Hailey Cunningham, provide opportunities for students to apply the concepts Pritchard practices as a farmer and owner of a farm store and restaurant in Berryville, VA. Many of those 150 students also raise animals through FFA and 4-H to show at the fair, and some live on their own family farms.
Tonight’s presentation at the MCPA is open to the public. Learn more about the event and purchase tickets at mcpa.org/events.