Employees from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension will travel from across the state to Raleigh today and tomorrow to celebrate the organization's 100th anniversary.
The Cooperative Extension is based out of North Carolina State University and NC A&T State University. Their personnel work in every county to connect farmers with new research and technology. But the organization, which runs 4-H, is also invested in helping families in general.
Sheri Schwab is an associate director of the Cooperative Extension at NC State.
“We've changed with the times from, you know, World War II and victory gardens, to the energy crisis in the '70s and the '80s, and then the kinds of things we do today, where there's the large production but there's also a strong interest in local foods,” Schwab said. “And certainly youth development and nutrition are very important issues on the national level.”
Governor Pat McCrory is expected to proclaim May 20th to be Cooperative Extension Day at a gathering tomorrow.