North Carolina Teachers Explore Innovative Strawberry Farming Techniques

Ahead of the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Science (NCAFCS) annual conference in February, I joined 22 teachers for a tour of Lewis Nursery and Farms in southeastern North Carolina to learn how strawberries are grown and marketed. Teachers attending the tour teach classes in food and nutrition, food science and technology, and culinary arts and hospitality.  Each of these classes has standards of learning that relate to agriculture.  

The farmer gave teachers a historical overview of this third-generation farm. He described how strawberries are conventionally grown in the state on black plastic mulch, which was a new concept for many teachers. 

In addition, we learned how the farm has extended strawberry season, using high tunnels to grow strawberries at other times of the year.  These “winter berries” are harvested from late-October through mid-April.  Conventional field-grown strawberries are harvested in April and May.

Teachers had numerous questions about the farm including:

• How does the farmer choose which varieties to grow?
• Why do some strawberries taste sweeter than others?
• How do you correctly pick a strawberry?
• How are strawberries harvested?
• How do you market your strawberries?
• Who picks all these berries?
• What happens if you don’t have enough strawberries to fill an order?
• What happens to strawberries that aren’t picked?
• What diseases affect strawberries?
• What do farmers do to control pests and diseases in strawberries?
• How are strawberries pollinated in high tunnels?
• What food safety practices did the farm use?
• How do strawberries get from the farm to the grocery store?
• How does growing You-Pick fields differ from raising strawberries for a wholesale market?
• How much does it cost to grow an acre of strawberries?

I’ve coordinated numerous farm tours over the years for various audiences. It’s always interesting to hear the questions farmers are asked. Some you can expect from any audience.  With family and consumer science teachers, their questions probed deeper into the total food system from planting to consumer plate.  It’s a privilege to connect teachers with a farmer so they can ask them the tough questions instead of relying on an internet search for answers.

The knowledge these teachers walked away with from this farm tour will be shared with students who are future chefs, registered dietitians, food safety inspectors, or maybe future farmers.