Whether it’s giving kids hands-on learning experiences about agriculture, providing important information on regulations, or encouraging healthy eating with “fresh from the farm” ingredients, Kentucky Proud offers a number of additional programs that benefit Kentucky farms, our farm families, and consumers across the Commonwealth.
Additional Kentucky Proud Programs
Farm to School
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is committed to bringing fresh, high-quality Kentucky Proud products to Kentucky’s school systems. Farm-fresh food helps students grow into strong, healthy young men and women who understand the importance of nutrition and buying local while helping Kentucky farmers find new markets for their products. Be Kentucky Proud – and learn more about how we’re helping students and farm families all over Kentucky.
Hemp
Industrial hemp is a variety of Cannabis sativa that is grown primarily as an agricultural crop. A vast variety of products can be made from industrial hemp using the seed, oil, and fiber.
Want to know more about the benefits of growing hemp? Get all details for the Hemp Licensing Program, applications, regulations, and more.
If you’re interested in Kentucky’s Hemp Licensing Program and not already on the email notification list, please email us with your name and contact information to receive periodic updates. Notifications will include announcements for hemp field days, conferences, application releases, etc.
Junior Chef
Farm to School Junior Chef pits high school cooking teams in a statewide competition, with the state champion decided at the Kentucky State Fair. The program is designed to offer youth the opportunity to learn valuable skills in recipe development, food preparation, marketing, public presentation, organization, teamwork and community involvement.
Junior Chef aims to stimulate interest in local agriculture, create a non-traditional market for Kentucky producers, and improve the quality of products available to school cafeterias. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to increase consumption of farm-fresh food by Kentucky’s students. Not to mention, valuable scholarship opportunities provided by Sullivan University are available to the top three winning teams each year!
Do it for the win. Do it for Kentucky.
Kentucky Wine
Ready for a bold statement? The foundation of America’s wine industry is largely planted in Kentucky. That’s right, the fourth largest wine producing country in the entire world owes quite a bit to the Commonwealth. While it’s true that California is now responsible for roughly 85% of the total US wine production, that wasn’t always the case.
America’s commercial wine industry was born in Kentucky in 1798 when Swiss vine-dresser, Jean-Jacques (John James) Dufour established the first commercial winery in the United States on steep banks of the Kentucky River in modern-day Jessamine County.
Since 2000, the number of Kentucky wineries has grown from less than 10 to more than 75, and that number continues to grow each year. Vineyard acreage is on the rise and the future of Kentucky’s grape and wine industry looks like there will be many very good vintages to come!
To read more about Kentucky wine (and craft beer) and to start planning your weekend adventures, check out Drink KY. It’s your personal guide to Kentucky’s wineries and craft breweries.
Livestock Tag
The Kentucky Proud Livestock Tag Program promotes animals that are born in Kentucky and enrolled in the program. One of the main goals of the program is to increase sales opportunities for quality Kentucky animals and market those animals at premium prices.
These tags are a visual tool that will identify all animals in the Kentucky Proud Program and assist with issuing Kentucky Proud premiums to youth livestock exhibitors. Learn more about how the Kentucky Proud Livestock Tag Program is benefiting all of Kentucky.
