Our History

Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom was founded in 1984 and is part of a national effort committed to promoting agricultural education and literacy.

In 1982, the Secretary of Agriculture for the United States Department of Agriculture mandated that each state should have an agriculture in the classroom program, although he did not connect any money to the initiative. In Massachusetts, then Commissioner of Agriculture Fred Winthrop brought together a group of people who were involved in agriculture and education to form the program.