Cargill Commits $100K to Seed Hometown ‘Children’s Farm’

Cargill has made a $100,000 charitable contribution to Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, toward the creation of the Cargill Children’s Farm, an interactive, interpretive, multisensory area within The Downing Children’s Garden.

As part of a multiphase, 27-acre expansion for Botanica, the first phase of the project’s expansion is the Downing Children’s Garden, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. The Cargill Children’s Farm will help children learn about, and better understand, rural farm life, including sustainable agriculture, responsible water use and good environmental stewardship.

“The Cargill Children’s Farm will allow every visitor to connect with nature through a themed area that will teach people about gardening, tending and harvesting crops,” explained Jody Horner, president of Cargill’s Wichita, Kan.-based U.S. meat business. “This will be a fun, safe, interactive place for children, teachers and parents to learn about where their food comes from and how it is produced.”

Citing Cargill’s historical roots in the Midwest grain business, which date back 145 years, Horner said the project “is a perfect fit for our community support.”

Key features of the Cargill Children’s Farm include a farm playhouse and related farm structures, a party barn, a windmill, a farm implement and tractor display, a crop-growing area, raised gardening beds, and an irrigation system. The area is expected to increase the number of children — currently more than 11,000 annually — who receive instruction through Botanica’s “Youth Environmental Education” programs.