HAVEN − Teaching the next generation that bread, lettuce and popcorn are not made in a grocery store, but the grains and vegetables are grown, picked and processed before arriving on the supermarket shelf, is the task high school students in Haven set out to perform.

Monday's farm day at the Haven Farm was called Farm to Fork. The event, usually a farm safety day, was cooked up by Haven's director of food services, the agriculture teacher and the FFA students.

"We want to give kids a better understanding of how agriculture ties into their everyday lives," said Luke Hartung, a senior at Haven High School. "We are showing them the building blocks of where their food comes from."

Hartung, who lives on a cattle ranch just outside of Haven, helped bring in bailers, stringers and seeders.

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Students from grades kindergarten through 6th grade, all from Haven Grade School, walked to 10 stations, learning about animals and food.

"Half of our kids are farm kids, and the other kids have no idea," said Sheree Jones, the director of food services for the Haven district.

After walking through the stations, meeting rabbits, a steer, a ewe and several chickens, Jones cooked up hamburgers for each of the elementary students. The high school students explained how seeds were planted to grow vegetables and how animals were raised for their meat, wool, eggs or oils.

"Kids think a grocery store magically has food," said Ellie Nisly, a high school senior.

Nisly did not grow up on a farm, but she said she worked on one and wants the children to understand what happens to the corn and cattle on the field.

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Along with the tractors and farm animals, the students could look at unprocessed popcorn, watch it pop and get a bag of the product as Kim Baldwin of Papa Baldy's Popcorn spoke about the four different types of corn.

High school students patiently answered questions at each station and allowed the children to touch the animals. Several Inman High School students also helped with the event.

Most of the children listened intently, waiting patiently in line to gather food or pet the ewe. Some asked questions.

"Are sheep herbivores?" Daniel Hewitt, 8, asked.

Katrina Whitekiller, 7, said she learned a lot.

"It's a lot of fun," she said. "I like it a lot."

A Jersey cow was brought in to demonstrate where milk comes from. After learning about dairy cows, the children were brought to Jake's Poppin Johnny Ice Cream Maker where Jacob Lee and MaryLou Yoder made fresh vanilla ice cream, starting in the late morning − enough to feed more than 400.

"We are really hitting it home this year," said Baylee Knapp, Haven High School's agriculture teacher. "We're teaching them (the children) the production process and then they eat."