State agriculture secretary helps deliver scholarship "check" on National Agriculture Day

Photo: Nine-year-old Lisette Sanchez stands behind her 15-pound cabbage.

(CUBA, N.M.) – One New Mexico elementary school student recently earned some green for future college expenses, thanks to the green thumb that helped her grow a 15-pound head of cabbage last season.

On National Agriculture Day, March 25, nine-year-old Lisette Sanchez accepted a $1,000 scholarship from Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in North America. Chris Simpson of Bonnie Plants, along with New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, presented the award during a 100-student assembly at Cuba Elementary School.

"I am so proud of Lisette and other young people like her who get outside and get their hands dirty in order to grow something," Witte said later. "The qualities that Lisette has shown as a young farmer -- curiosity, problem-solving, and dedication – are exactly the qualities it takes to become a successful farmer, rancher, or follow another path in agriculture later on in life."

Lisette grew the cabbage in her family's hoop-house (a greenhouse constructed by draping plastic sheeting over curved PVC pipe) with guidance from her parents, Julian and Debora Sanchez.

"l love planting in my greenhouse because I have a green thumb," Lisette said. She said several family members were able to enjoy the fruits of her labor: "I shared with great-grandma and grandma, and we were able to make coleslaw and stew with our pieces."

Lisette's name was drawn at random from among 22 young finalists in the state who each successfully grew a large cabbage last year while in third grade. Those students – and countless others like them across the country – each started out with a two-inch transplant provided at no cost by Bonnie Plants. The company awards a $1,000 scholarship to one cabbage-growing student in each state, each year.

"The Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program is a wonderful way to engage children's interest in agriculture, while teaching them not only the basics of gardening but the importance of our food systems and of growing our own," Stan Cope, president of Bonnie Plants, says on the company's website. "This unique, innovative program exposes children to agriculture and demonstrates, through hands-on experience, where food comes from. The program also provides youth with valuable life lessons in nurture, nature, responsibility, self-confidence, and accomplishment."

The Bonnie Plants website says the mission of its 3rd Grade Cabbage Program is "to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people". Bonnie Plants distributes more than one million free cabbage plants to 3rd grade classrooms across the country each year. The company says the cabbages are the O.S. Cross variety, known for producing giant, oversized heads.

Witte said he is proud to work with Bonnie Plants to build young people's interest in agriculture.

To learn more about NMDA and its service to New Mexico's agricultural producers and consumers alike, visit www.nmda.nmsu.edu. To learn more about Bonnie Plants and its 3rd Grade Cabbage Program, visit www.bonnieplants.com.