PA Farm Show

Part of the 6th grade curriculum at my children's school is culture.  In Pennsylvania, there's Philadelphia, Pennsyltucky, and Pittsburgh; the 6th grade takes an annual trip to the Farm Show to learn about PA's agricultural culture and the source of food (as opposed to the grocery store).  I was initially apprehensive about the trip, fearing that it would glorify industrialized agriculture, but I truly had a good time.

There was livestock, produce, environmental education, shopping, and most importantly, lots of food.  I ran my hand through the plush fur of an alpaca, watched sheep get sheared, saw a 1600 pound bison, and ate - I also saw first hand, the many products we get from animals (I'm so excited about the alpaca yarn I bought for myself) and found some good sources of meat.

The only thing that was troubling was the cows.  There were lots of cute cows, but their udders were engorged; they kept them full until after the competition and then walked them to a pumping station to relieve them (milk leaking from the nipple), after which their udders were as flat as pancakes...it truly does suck to be a cow.