The Ohio Livestock Coalition announced the winners of a statewide essay contest for third graders in response to the question, "How do Ohio farmers make sure we have good, safe food to eat?"

Mary Gray from Big Walnut Elementary in Sunbury and Alice Yang and Kerim Pintol from Granby Elementary in Columbus won the contest. They were selected from more than 20 essays submitted in the contest's second year.

In addition, the following third graders received honorable mention awards:

-Alexa Cooper, Scioto Elementary (Pickaway County)

-Joel Krebehenne, North Union Elementary (Union County)

-Cara Sheets, East Elementary (Athens County)

The winners' entire third-grade classes will be taking a free, all-expenses-paid field trip to an Ohio livestock farm, courtesy of the Ohio Livestock Coalition. Price Farms Organics, Ltd., a hog farm in Delaware, Ohio, will host the two third-grade classes.

The essay contest is part of the Ohio Livestock Coalition's ongoing For Your InFARMation program. The program includes free educational materials for teachers designed to teach Ohio third-graders about the origins of the food they eat every day and about the important role agriculture plays in Ohio's economy.

"As more and more Ohio families become generations removed from the farm, it is increasingly important to educate students at a younger age on where their food comes from and the critical role Ohio livestock farmers play in feeding Ohio and the world," said David White, executive director of the Ohio Livestock Coalition. "That's precisely the goal of the For Your InFARMation program and students from the two classes will be able to experience this concept first-hand at their upcoming field trip." To view a video of last year's field trip, visit www.ForYourInFARMation.com.

The For Your InFARMation materials support key Ohio academic content standards for social studies, language arts, science and math, and can be downloaded free of charge at  www.ForYourInFARMation.com. Through these materials, students learn about farmers and the economy, livestock farming, keys to safe and healthy food, careers in agriculture and more.