Cultivate California and its nonprofit parent organization the California Farm Water Coalition is educating the public at large one person at a time with its Water Challenge Exhibit at the popular and acclaimed Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) in Sacramento.
The Water Challenge Exhibit at the MOSAC, which has had over 331,000 people tour the facility since it opened in November 2021, includes three interactive displays or exhibits that illustrate how California farmers are working hard to use less water.
The popular MOSAC features dozens of interactive exhibits on topics like nature, space exploration, health care and water.
I’ve written extensively here about how important it is to educate the public in a variety of ways on the fact California farmers are using less water than they have in any time in history. Cultivate California’s Water Challenge Exhibit at the MOSAC is doing this, reaching people in a unique and engaging one-on-one way at a very popular public facility.
A case in point: Two sisters who recently visited MOSAC said they enjoyed the exhibits and the older one said she’d learned something as well.
“I learned that water is very important and that we need water to grow food for people and to feed the animals we’re going to eat,” said 9-year-old Lyla Frith. Her sister, Kaylyn, 7, enjoyed the exhibits on her own level, saying, “I liked it a lot. The games were fun.”
The games, which engage visitors, are at the heart of the interactive water exhibits.
In this particular game, the girls worked hard on the interactive exhibits to properly irrigate the fields without running out of water and to create their menus for the day, learning how much water was needed to grow the foods and how much nutritional value they contained in the process. In both cases, the game suggested they eat more vegetables.
Making science fun is one of the ways Cultivate California strives to educate Californians about the vital link between farms and ranches and their water supplies, and how the agriculture community is working hard to grow even more food and fiber while using less water, said Farm Water Coalition Executive Director Mike Wade.
“Our water exhibits bring home the fact that water is essential to grow our food and that California farmers are leading the world in conserving it,” Wade said. “It’s important that everyone knows that farmers are using water in an efficient manner and that as consumers, we all depend on farmers.”
The California Farm Water Coalition continues to step up its efforts to educate the public on the responsible use of water by farmers, as well as to encourage farmers to use water more responsibly, including through the adoption of technologies like drip irrigation and other modern methods.
Cultivate California, which sponsors the Water Challenge Exhibit at the MOSAC, has become an important way to achieve these dual goals, particularly the public education element.
Added support to grow Cultivate California’s efforts is coming from businesses and groups in the allied agriculture sector as well. For example, Jacob DeBoer, with American AgCredit, said creating innovative ways to educate Californians about the importance of California agriculture is why Farm Credit organizations serving the state’s farmers and ranchers are contributing $100,000 to Cultivate California this year.
“Firmly rooted in American AgCredit’s core values is an unwavering commitment to the communities where we work and live,” DeBoer said. “The MOSAC exhibit does such a great job of educating California consumers on how vital water is in growing the food that feeds our families, and how farmers are always aiming to optimize their water usage to ensure they’re being good stewards of our land.”
Kevin Ralph, AgWest Farm Credit’s California President, agrees.
“Providing accurate information about California agriculture to our state’s mainly urban population is critically important, and every year Cultivate California finds new creative ways to reach people online and get them to engage with the content,” Ralph said. “Farm Credit looks forward to continuing to help them spread the good news about the state’s farms and ranches.”
Ag West Farm Credit, American AgCredit, and CoBank, Colusa Glenn Farm Credit, Fresno Madera Farm Credit, Golden State Farm Credit and Yosemite Farm Credit have sponsored Cultivate California since its inception in 2015. The three organizations are part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the largest provider of credit to U.S. agriculture.
The MOSAC exhibit is just one part of Cultivate California’s toolkit. An additional part of their outreach is via paid advertising on social media channels.
“There are two facets to what we do. The first is to get their attention, and that’s with imagery and food facts, recipes, information about which regions grow different products, and what’s in season,” Wade said.
“That helps get their attention, then we tailor the rest of the message about the importance of water to bring food to consumers and the value of California production over imports where we have less control over how commodities are grown. We get their attention and then deliver the message about why California is such an important ag state.”
California farmers must increasingly use less water to grow the same amount of food they have in the past. One way to do this is through the use of low-volume drip, trickle and micro-sprinkler irrigation.
From 1994 to 2018, the amount of California farmland irrigated using these water-saving methods has more than quadrupled. Today about 48 percent of California’s 8.4 million acres of irrigated farmland are irrigated with drip, micro or subsurface irrigation, up from only 15.8 percent in 1991. This technological revolution in farm water-use is accelerating as less water becomes available for agricultural uses in California.
The more the public learns about California agriculture, the more they’ll support it because it makes a positive contribution to their lives and to the state’s economy. Key to this is water use. Farmers are in the main conservationists but we’ve historically done a poor job of telling the story of agriculture, including water use, in California. Times have changed too. Today, for example, using less water is a priority for all farmers in California. It’s an economic and resource as well as a conservation issue.
Innovative programs like the Water Challenge Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) in Sacramento are key in this important and vital ongoing process of engaging and educating the public about California agriculture and farm water use.
My Job Depends on Ag Magazine columnist and contributing editor Victor Martino is an agrifood industry consultant, entrepreneur and writer. One of his passions and current projects is working with farmers who want to develop their own branded food products. You can contact him at: victormartino415@gmail.com.
