UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This year, the Family Room at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days is teaching visitors ways to make time for a healthy lifestyle with a series of fun, interactive exhibits planned by educators from Penn State Extension’s Food, Families and Communities and Pesticide Education teams.
There is something for everyone at the Family Room, and all age groups are welcome, organizers said. The Family Room is located on Main Street between Eighth and Ninth streets at the Ag Progress Days site.
Penn State Extension will lead daily talks and demonstrations and staff exhibits with a focus on healthy living through food, physical activity, food safety, stress management, tick protection and sun safety.
Highlights include:
Food demonstrations and speaking presentations: Join Penn State Extension’s Food, Families, and Communities educators to learn how to support your health and well-being, prepare healthy recipes, and use safe home food preservation techniques.
Mental health and wellness in agriculture: Farming can be stressful because so many variables — such as the weather, equipment breakdowns and the economy — are out of farmers’ control. They can become healthier and happier by learning to identify and respond in positive ways to stressors. Visitors can discover tips to keep themselves and their neighbors mentally and emotionally healthy.
Health and wellness display: Find valuable information on physical fitness, nutrition and ways to prevent chronic diseases to assist you with your journey to a healthy lifestyle.
Family well-being programs: Get ideas and resources on parenting and child care, grandparents raising grandchildren, and financial management.
Home food preservation: In celebration of National Food Safety Month in September, Penn State Extension Food Safety and Quality educators and volunteers will provide research-based information on how to store and preserve foods safely.
Vector-borne disease: Penn State Extension’s Vector-Borne Disease team focuses on diseases caused by pathogens transmitted by ticks and mosquitos, such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and West Nile virus. Stop by for resources on recognizing ticks and mosquitoes, and ways to protect yourself, your family, your pets and your livestock from vector-borne diseases.
Where in the home is Mr. Yuk? The Pesticide Education Program will showcase different areas around a home where common household products may be stored, and participants will be asked where Mr. Yuk stickers should be placed. Children will learn what to do when they see Mr. Yuk on one of these products. Everyone will have a chance to spin the wheel, answer a question to win a prize and pick up a sheet of Mr. Yuk stickers.
Visitors also can stop by Penn State’s Lion Mobile Clinic, located behind the Family Room building. The clinic uses a student-run free clinic model to increase access to health care and promote healthy choices for under-resourced communities in Pennsylvania.
During Ag Progress Days, the clinic will offer information about firearm safety and Lyme disease, host a coloring contest to design its new mobile unit, and provide fun activities for kids while promoting healthy lifestyles and educating the community. On Aug. 15, the clinic will host Skin Cancer Awareness Day and giving away free sun bags.
Sponsored by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, 9 miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 13; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 14; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 15. Admission and parking are free.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website. “X” (formerly Twitter) users can find and share information about the event by using the hashtag #agprogressdays, and the event also can be found on Facebook (@AgProgressDays).