TOOLKITS

NOVEMBER 2023 TOOLKIT

GIVING THANKS: STORIES FROM OUR COMMUNITIES

As we gather and connect with family and friends to enjoy delicious food in celebration of Thanksgiving, many of us reflect and share stories about all that we are grateful for in our lives.

APLU’s Office of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANR) team expresses our deep gratitude to the dedicated research, education, and Extension professionals, administrators, and staff at our member universities. Their vision, dedication, and hard work are essential to feed our families on Thanksgiving and every day. Each land-grant university has its own powerful stories about the individuals and teams who work on a broad range of complicated issues in their local communities as well as regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Our thanks to land-grant universities that tackle complex problems:

Research: Agricultural research taking place at our land-grant universities is vital to discover innovative solutions that help farmers and ranchers produce abundant, safe, affordable, and nutritious food.
- Scientists are discovering ways to create more nutrient-dense diets, improve the health of livestock animals, and develop crops key to food security.
Education: Educators inspire and prepare students to protect and enhance our future.
- Land-grant universities develop a diverse and thriving workforce and prepare undergraduate and graduate students with cutting-edge science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as many other disciplines, to become our next generation of farmers, ranchers, scientists, educators, and Extension agents.
Extension: The Cooperative Extension System engages with farmers and ranchers to help them solve problems, develop skills, and build better futures in their communities and throughout the country.
- Extension professionals serve their communities to help improve local food security, cope with mental health and substance abuse challenges, and deliver nutrition programs that improve healthful outcomes.

We are inspired to tell your stories and build widespread, deep support for research, education, and Extension. The FANR team appreciates working with you and wishes you and your loved ones a healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Please see the links above for more information on projects at Land-grant Impacts.

SOCIAL MEDIA

SAMPLE POSTS

ONE HEALTH DAY
#LandGrantUniversities play a crucial role in addressing global food and nutrition challenges, making our world a healthier place. Learn more about how [@SCHOOL] research in [PROJECT] protects #OneHealth. [LINK]

VETERANS DAY
#LandGrantUniversities are committed to empowering veterans through education, training, and support. Through programs like [PROGRAM] at [@SCHOOL], veterans learn the skills needed for careers in agriculture/natural resources/other. #VeteransDay

GIVING THANKS
*Use the language in the toolkit introduction to highlight individuals or programs in your college:
This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for Extension agent, [NAME], who works with producers in the [COUNTY] community to improve local food security through [PROGRAM].

FOOD SAFETY
Protect your family this Thanksgiving with food safety tips from [@SCHOOL]: [LINK]
*If your institution does not have food safety resources, share this article from @USDA: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/11/07/stay-food-safe-thanksgiving-holiday

Feel free to reach out to us with specific posts that you would like @AgIsAmerica to share. Please email your request to Kim Scotto at agcomms@aplu.org or use #AgIsAmerica.

HASHTAGS AND HANDLES

HASHTAGS
#LandGrantUniversities
#AgIsAmerica

HANDLES

Ag is America	@AgIsAmerica
APLU Ag	@APLU_Ag
Sec. Vilsack (Secretary of Agriculture)	@SecVilsack
USDA	@USDA
USDA National Institute of Food & Ag	@USDA_NIFA
APLU	@APLU_News
Cooperative Extension	@Ext100Years

CALENDAR

NOVEMBER HOLIDAYS

MONTHS
National Native American Heritage Month, #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
National Pepper Month, #PepperMonth
National Pomegranate Month, #PomegranateMonth
Sweet Potato Awareness Month, #SweetPotatoMonth
World Vegan Month, #WorldVeganMonth

WEEKS
November 1–7 – National Fig Week, #NationalFigWeek
November 15–22 – National Farm-City Week, #FarmCityWeek

DAYS
November 1 – National Cinnamon Day, #CinnamonDay
November 1 – World Vegan Day, #WorldVeganDay
November 3 – One Health Day, #OneHealthDay
November 4 – National Candy Day, #NationalCandyDay
November 8 – National STEM/STEAM Day, #NationalSTEMDay
November 14 – National Pickle Day, #PickleDay
November 16 – National Rural Health Day, #RuralHealthDay
November 23 – National Cashew Day, #CashewDay
November 23 – Thanksgiving Day, #Thanksgiving
November 24 – National Native American Heritage Day, #NativeAmericanHeritageDay
November 24 – Maize Day, #MaizeDay

source: November 2023 - National Day Calendar

USDA EVENTS & DEADLINES

November 2 – Live FAQ Session: Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agriculture Systems
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems (A1712) program area priority is designed to rapidly identify and implement strategies to protect the nation’s food and agricultural supply chains and the people who support them during and after extreme weather events. We invite interested applicants to learn more about this program area priority and to meet our team during a live FAQ event.

November 8 – NIFA Nutrition Security Webinar: Promoting Indigenous Food Sovereignty
To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, the Director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations Heather Dawn Thompson will provide an overview of the USDA Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. Then, staff from NIFA and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will highlight relevant resources.

NIFA stakeholders including academics, practitioners, and decision makers working to prioritize nutrition security using research, education, and/or Extension, with a special interest in approaches to promote Indigenous Food Sovereignty.

November 13 – Deadline: Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations Deadline
State Animal Health Officials (SAHO) may identify the need for food supply veterinarians in specific areas within their state. SAHOs nominate these areas to be designated as veterinary shortage situations for recruiting or retaining a qualified veterinarian to serve an area where there is a shortage of existing services or a great risk of losing an established food animal veterinarian. These nominations support two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) competitive programs:

November 16 – Information Session: 2024 National 4-H Conference
Mark your calendar for the 2024 National 4-H Conference to be held April 19-24 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. Known as “the Secretary’s Conference,” this Conference is the flagship youth development opportunity of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Register for this informational session to learn about the National 4-H Conference history, objectives, schedule, chaperone roles, policies and registration process. Learn more.

Source: Upcoming Events | National Institute of Food and Agriculture (usda.gov)