EVOLVING
FOR THE FUTURE
New FFA partnership with Walmart Foundation advances sustainability.
Investing in the next generation is paramount to the future of sustainable agriculture. With funding support from the Walmart Foundation, Cargill, Domino’s, Valent U.S.A., and other supporters, National FFA can prepare members for leadership and careers involving sustainability.
Excess garbage leads to FFA member’s discovery.
An escalating foul odor led Miles Lee to unearth his passion for and future in sustainable agriculture. It was a nearby expanding landfill that inspired his endeavors; but it wasn’t just the smell that captured Lee’s attention.
“The landfill was getting bigger and bigger, and it got me thinking about the amount of trash and waste we’re creating,” says Lee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that 30-40% of the food supply is wasted in the U.S. Discarded scraps pile up in landfills and emit methane — a greenhouse gas more powerful than carbon dioxide.
“In middle school, I learned how worms break down food through a vermicomposting project,” he continued. “I realized there are better ways to manage waste and care for our planet by reducing our impact.”
Lee’s curiosity and subsequent learning led him to discover food waste solutions. As a freshman in high school, he created a composting center on campus for his supervised agricultural experience (SAE). Diverting the food scraps from trash to compost means the result can be reused as rich soil.
An alumnus of Arabia Mountain FFA in Georgia, Lee is now a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, majoring in sustainable agriculture with a concentration in plant and soil science.
Not only is Lee a rising future leader in sustainability, but with the composting center, he has already made a positive difference.
“I trained other agriculture students to use and maintain it, and it’s still on the Arabia Mountain High School campus today,” he says.
The future depends on it.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “to pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.”
Sustainability is not a new concept, and its effects are long-term and far-reaching. That’s why it needs to be included in agricultural education and FFA programs.
Some FFA members, like Lee and Casey Denk, are already tackling sustainable actions and bringing others along.
Denk, an FFA alumnus from Wisconsin, moderated a panel of agriculture experts during the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo to discuss sustainability reforms in the industry. Denk’s beef production SAE has sustainable methods at its forefront. She and her parents incorporate soil health, use solar power, and implement waterways and dams at their family farm.
Sustainability resonates strongly with young people, and FFA is a natural fit to initiate skill-building. With help from some generous National FFA Foundation partners and donors, the National FFA Organization is creating new teaching opportunities for agriculture teachers and more hands-on learning for its members regarding sustainability.
“Gen Z and Gen Alpha clearly already have the passion for purpose. We just need to give them the skillset to act on it,” said Christine White, chief program officer of National FFA.
Focused on support and sustainability.
In 2022, the Walmart Foundation provided a $750,000 grant as a new supporter of the National FFA Foundation. The funding is to help FFA secure sustainable agriculture goals for the future. The Walmart Foundation is invested in advancing sustainability, and FFA members equal hundreds of thousands of young people who will drive this change.
As a result of the funding, National FFA is creating instructor and student resources that will incorporate sustainability concepts, allowing teaching and learning practices to evolve. With that, FFA members will be better equipped to address future sustainability challenges in agriculture.
White explains how support from partners like the Walmart Foundation is necessary.
“Sustainability in agriculture is something FFA has wanted to expand upon for a while, but this gift from the Walmart Foundation really catapulted our plans off the ground and helped us make traction in relaying it through agricultural education,” she says.
White explains that the goal is to have at least 20% of FFA members experiencing some kind of sustainability learning and/or practice by 2025, which means that around 150,000 young people would be engaged in sustainability within National FFA programming.
Sustainable agriculture is here to stay.
“Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to helping protect, restore, or more sustainably manage 50 million acres and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030. To achieve this ambitious goal, we need to help prepare the next generation of agriculture leaders with the resources and knowledge they need to pursue rewarding, productive, and sustainable careers in agriculture,” says Julie Gehrki, vice president and chief operating officer of the Walmart Foundation. “We are proud that, through this grant to the National FFA Foundation, the Walmart Foundation will support the development of new tools and curriculum to support hundreds of thousands of students in learning more about the benefits of sustainable agriculture.”
As a result of his impressive sustainability passion and practices, Miles Lee was asked to join Walmart’s 2022 Sustainability Milestone Meeting. When speaking to attendees, Lee said, “It’s so important for organizations such as the Walmart Foundation to make grants to FFA that continue to recruit people … and let people know that agriculture goes beyond farming.”
Though the FFA mission is delivered through agricultural education, the reality is that even if FFA Alumni don’t pursue careers specific to agriculture, they still emerge as skilled leaders and knowledgeable citizens. They are still the greatest assets to help educate, feed, clothe and fuel the ever-evolving world. With help from generous partners such as the Walmart Foundation, the future is bright.
STORY BY NICOLE WARD BECKLEY
AND JESSICA WALKER BOEHM