Rural And Urban Inner-City High School Student Knowledge And Perception Of Agriculture

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and perception of rural and urban inner-city students in two Midwestern states regarding agriculture, food, and natural resources. Since this study was a pilot project, these two subgroups of the United States population were assessed to provide baseline data reflecting the knowledge and perceptions of United States residents regarding agriculture and the food industry. Data were collected from 1121 respondents but did not constitute a representative sample of students in the two Midwestern states. However, the results of this study may have implications for other groups on a practical basis. Three objectives were specified for this study as follows: 1) to assess the level of agricultural knowledge among rural and urban inner-city high school students in a midwest; 2) to assess the level of agricultural perceptions among rural and urban inner-city high school students in the midwest; and, 3) to compare the level of agricultural knowledge and perception of both subgroups. Both groups of respondents were most knowledgeable about Natural Resources concepts whereas the Rural Students were least knowledgeable about the Plants in Agriculture concept area compared to the Urban Inner-City High School Student respondents who were least knowledgeable about the Policy concept area. Overall, respondents had the most positive perception about the Natural Resources concept area and were the least positive about the Agricultural Policy concept area.