Best way to teach college students about ag? Free food

The best way for the agriculture industry to win over college students is through their stomachs.

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Topanga McBride, a Kansas State University student, talks about how the animal agriculture industry can reach out to college students. | Roy Graber
Topanga McBride, a Kansas State University student, talks about how the animal agriculture industry can reach out to college students. | Roy Graber

The best way for the agriculture industry to win over college students is through their stomachs.

At least that’s a suggestion of Topanga McBride, a junior at Kansas State University (KSU) studying agriculture economics and agriculture communications.

McBride, during a session at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit on May 4, was asked for her suggestion to better educate college students about animals in agriculture. McBride was also the first-place winner of the Alliance’s 2016 College Aggies Online scholarship competition.

“College students like free food. We live for free food,” she said. “The great thing about being on a college campus is we look out for free food. We have group meetings specified just to see where there’s free food on campus. We will look on Twitter.”

McBride told summit attendees that since they are all involved in animal agriculture in one way or another, to try to come up with a way to bring their animal protein products to campuses, and then create a dialogue.

“They will be interested in talking,” she said. “We still like that personal connection.”

Since KSU, or K-State as it is more commonly known, is a land-grant university with a significant percentage of its enrollment consisting of people with agricultural backgrounds or from rural areas, there are fewer skeptics than there would be at urban universities. However, McBride said she still encounters skeptics.

And because those skeptics are there, animal rights activists still make their way to K-State. However, in one case when an animal rights group came to campus, McBride said, another group countered by setting up a bacon stand nearby.

“The bacon stand kind of won over,” McBride said.

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