By Adam Brobst and Celisa Calacal

Cool winds blew through the Ithaca Commons on April 1 as a variety of farm animals, food booths and vendors stood in front of shops and restaurants to promote local agriculture.

The day marked Ithaca’s annual celebration of AgStravaganza, a day recognizing the town’s agriculture and farming community. This year also marks the first time the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), an organization aimed at providing knowledge and information about New York’s agricultural and natural resources, has joined the AgStravaganza event. There were several booths from the CCE providing more information about the organization and sustainable environmental practices.  

Representatives from CCE’s Master Composters were present at the event to teach attendees about the benefits of composting. Master Composters also holds classes around the Ithaca area to raise awareness about the environmentally friendly practice. Eric Carter, the rural youth services program educator for CCE, said one of the benefits of composting is the way it removes trash out of the trash stream and places it back into the soil.

“It has a bunch of microbes in there, which are great for the soil,” he said. “And you’re also returning nutrients to the soil.”

Margaret Smith, a first-timer at AgStravaganza and a professor of plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University, hosted a booth about plant breeding and genetic engineering. She said plant breeders develop varieties of crops that are well-adapted to the climate, resist pests and produce the a high yield for the population.

“Plant breeders work on all those things that would make a plant produce something that is more useful in terms of the human need,” Smith said.

With the rapid increase in the world population — in conjunction with climate change and the decrease in arable land — Smith said it is important for people to explore the tools available in food production.

“Over the next 50 years in the world, we are going to have to produce as much food as we have produced in the entire course of humanity to feed the people on this planet,” she said. “That’s a frightening task.”

Also present at the event was Tompkins County 4-H Youth, the branch of CCE that exposes kids who present animals for show. Farm animals ranging from rabbits to chickens to lambs stood next to the booth. Dina Rigas, a representative from 4-H, said the group’s intention for the festival was to expose more members of the community to the array of farm animals in Tompkins County.

Ithaca resident Valerie Humnicky said she enjoyed the assortment of foods at the event, including the variety of cheeses. Taking note of the many families at AgStravaganza, she said the event was beneficial for kids to become more exposed to farm animals, like goats and cows.

“I think it’s really great to see kids in the city be able to see some animals,” she said.  

Ryan McCullough attended AgStravaganza with his wife out of an interest for local farming and community-supported agriculture. Through community-supported agriculture, people like McCullough buy “shares” from local farmers to receive that farmer’s produce for the rest of the season. Despite the brisk winds and chilly weather, McCullough said AgStravaganza fit the town’s communal character.

“This is very Ithaca,” he said.