Farm-to-Table

Inspiration

The United States is the world’s largest exporter of food and fiber, yet only 2% of the population works in the farming industry. Due to today's decreasing rate of farmers and farming land, there is a dire need to interest the next generation in farming. Worldwide, the percentage of workers in the agricultural field has dropped from 44% in 1991 to 26% in 2020! By 2050 the world population will rise to 9 billion from the current 7 billion, meaning there will need to be a 70% increase in labor and resources required to meet estimates. We wanted to present a gaming experience that not only educates but celebrates the farmers of today and sparks young students' interest in the industry to encourage the future feeder of America.

What it does

How we built it

Challenges we ran into

Initially, the hardest part was starting our project. We had no clue which direction we wanted to go in, whether that was UX, a game design, accessibility-themed, or agriculture themed. We were overwhelmed with all the options and potential pathways, but eventually, we narrowed it down to an agriculture-themed game. The normal troubleshooting and bugs that come with coding were also some challenges, especially since there was a learning curve with our first time using pygame. Overall, challenges came and went because we had our team to keep us in check and grounded.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As our first hackathon, we were intimidated by the broad scope of the project and the independence factor. We are very proud of the creative brainstorming process, our perseverance even when we felt hopeless, and our combined teamwork. Hackathons are intimidating, but we're proud that we didn't let fear deter us from this insightful and fun experience.

What we learned

What's next for Farm-to-Table

Looking to expand the educational content for students across the US and even the globe, our team hopes to code more farming scenarios for young students to follow along with. Our preliminary experience opens up the basic farming techniques used in corn farming, but there is a vast array of different produce and products that students should be educated about. To further the experience Farm-to-Table provides, we hope to soon roll out our "Milk," “Egg,” and "Honey" pathways, so students can see farming in a different likey, not just with vegetables. We hope to see you when our newest pathways are introduced, but for now, happy farming!