The winners of the Kerr Center’s "Making a Sustainable Food System" essay contest have been decided and awards were delivered either by mail or at end-of –the–school year award ceremonies in May, 2002.

Winners and amounts of their awards are: first place, A. Sistrunk, Bartlesville High School, $750; second place, Caleb Beavers, Preston High School, $500; and honorable mentions, Katresa Brashears, Fairview High School, Andrew Puckette, Stillwater High School, and Stacey Carter, Perkins-Tryon High School, each receiving $250.

High school juniors and seniors in both rural and urban schools were invited to participate. Students chose from eleven specific topics related to the subject, including clean water, healthy development in rural areas and small towns, food security, safe nutritious food, and economic opportunities for farmers and/or ranchers. Detailed information packets were sent to schools around the state.

Entries were received from both large and small schools in most areas of the state See Map.

"I was very pleased with the number of contest entries. The essays were well-written and showed that the students put a great deal of thought into where their food comes from and how to make the food system more equitable socially and economically, as well as more environmentally friendly," said Anita Poole, coordinator of the contest for the Kerr Center. "Teachers told me their students put a lot of thought into the project.

"I would like to thank all of this year's participants and to commend each of them for their interest in the world around them. A great deal of thought and research goes into writing an essay, and Oklahoma students have shown that are up to the challenge."

A sustainable food system offers safe, nutritious food to the public while ensuring that food producers (including family farmers with small- and medium-sized farms) make an adequate profit and enjoy a good quality of life. A sustainable food system protects natural resources and the environment for future generations, and supports healthy rural communities.

"Our goal was to include young people in a thoughtful discussion of solutions to the challenges facing farmers and our food system," said Jim Horne, president of the Kerr Center. "Many of us wrestle with the multitude of problems in our industrialized food system. Sometimes we lose site of how simple some of the solutions are. That’s why we wanted to hear from Oklahoma’s youth."

"We hope these essay writers will be able to take the lead in making the Oklahoma food system better for the state," added Poole.

In addition to hearing about solutions from the next generation, the contest was an opportunity for students to research and learn about the challenges and opportunities in agriculture today.

"Farmers and agriculture are being impacted by many external forces. We must ensure that our youth understand the nature of these impacts and bring their creativity, skills, spiritual heritage, and common sense intelligently to bear on civilizing the forces at work," said Horne.

Winning essays will be published either in full or in part in the Kerr Center’s quarterly newsletter Field Notes, which goes to 6,000 people in Oklahoma and around the United States and world.

Due to the positive response this year, the Kerr Center will again sponsor an essay contest next year. Information will be available on this web site around Christmas. Teachers who want to be put on a mailing list for next year’s contest or want more information about this year's contest call Anita Poole at 918-647-9123 or email apoole@kerrcenter.com