Local farmer Christian Melendez visited the AP Human Geography classes of teachers Mr. Brendan O’Connell and Mrs. Jessica Stern the morning of Mar. 2 in an attempt to raise student awareness about the farming industry.

Melendez is a founding farmer and educator for ECO City Farms, a non-profit organization that seeks to serve as a “prototype for sustainable local urban farming,” according to its website ecoffshoots.org. Melendez works not only to grow food, but also to teach others about “food, fertility, and farmers.”

Last week, Melendez presented the students with facts that discussed “the current state of farming in the world,” according to Mr. O’Connell. Melendez’s presentation included several videos that depicted the business of commercial agriculture and their practices.

Junior Angela Yang said that the presentation was “informative of how involved big companies are in our food production.”

One video in particular described the use of chemicals and pesticides by commercial businesses. The fact Yang said she found most interesting was that a large pesticide company “sent its members to go work for the FDA,” in an attempt to get their pesticides approved.

Another video showed how “food corporations make food from the ground up,” said Senior Carlee Meadows.

Melendez wanted to encourage students to “see where our food comes from, and go out to markets and even farms” to get it, explained Meadows.