Earth Day Essay Contest

New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc.

Earth Day Essay Contest

Students across the New Mexico are invited to enter the Earth Day essay and video contest, sponsored by the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association (NMCGA) and New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc. (NMWGI)  This year’s theme is “Agriculture: Food for Life. How Does New Mexico Lead the Way?” NMCGA and NMWGI encourages students to describe how New Mexico agriculture impacts their daily life and how it will feed the world with the growing population. 

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We encourage all entrants to support their position with facts. As you prepare your entry, consider how you might draw on, or examine, some of the following trends: 

·        * Global population is projected to reach 9 billion people by 2050

·        * Increasing global consumer interest in how food is produced and processed

·        * Popularity and growth of high protein diets featuring plant-based protein

·        * Health and fitness driving consumer food buying habits

·        * Influence of technology and biotechnology on food production, such as precision agriculture, drones and GMOs (genetically-modified organisms)

·        * There’s a shortfall of students entering agriculture, versus the number of job openings. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 20,000 agriculture jobs are left unfilled annually. 

·        * Each American farmer feeds more than 165 people; a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s.