Program Description
Today, many definitions exist for the term agriculture. In its vision, agricultural education in North Carolina employs the phrase food, fiber and environmental systems to describe a very broad field.
 
Agriculture is best defined by the National Research Council as, "A field that encompasses the production of agricultural commodities, including food, fiber, wood products, horticulture crops, and other plant and animal products. The terms also includes financing, processing, marketing, and distribution of agricultural products; farm production supply and service industries; health, nutrition, and food consumption; the use and conservation of land and water resources; development and maintenance of recreational resources; and related economic, sociological, political, environmental, and cultural characteristics of the food and fiber system."

This new phrase was chosen in an effort to be inclusive of and to harness the potential of the total agricultural community. With this in mind, the mission of the agricultural education program is to prepare students for success in the food, fiber, and environmental systems.

Agricultural Education provides students with the opportunity to participate in an integrated educational model that focuses students on careers in the food, fiber, and environmental systems. The program is designed to develop technical, leadership and management expertise needed by secondary school students for success in the industry.

Program Design
For information on the design and purposes of Agricultural Education, please visit Agricultural Education Program Design.

FFA Organization
For information, please visit Future Farmers of America (FFA).