Pepperoni was used as a teaching tool for about 825 Douglas County fourth-grade students.

Area farmers and agricultural organizations sponsored the fourth annual Slice of Agriculture program Thursday and Friday. The program is designed to teach students from the Lawrence, Baldwin and Eudora school districts about the agricultural industry.

Students ate pizza, then learned how different elements of agriculture made the pizza possible.

“We think that since these kids grew up in Kansas that they automatically know about agriculture,” said Karen Pendleton, an owner of Pendleton’s Country Market and an organizer of the event. “But in Douglas County, most of these kids have no connection to a farm, and this isn’t something you learn by osmosis.”

The event provided lessons on grains, fruits, vegetables, agricultural equipment, soil conservation, beef, pork, dairy and food safety, said Bill Wood, agriculture agent with the Douglas County Extension Service, another organizer of the event.

Pendleton said the program helped change the perception young people had about farming.

“Sometimes you hear people portraying agriculture rather negatively,” Pendleton said. “They see it as a dead-end occupation, but this allows us to tell students that if we don’t have any farmers, we’re not going to eat much.”

Alyssa Crider, a fourth-grader at Schwegler School, said she was surprised to learn about the products that can be made from grains. But she wasn’t sure farming would be in her future.

“I think it probably would be easier to go to the store,” Crider said.

Amla Carr, a fourth-grade student at Hillcrest School, pets a calf during the Slice of Agriculture program at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds. Douglas County fourth-graders attended the program Friday to learn about agriculture.