10/12/2026
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Mary Beth Sallee
Managing Editor
A gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, or a bag of vegetables may be an everyday sight on a grocery store shelf for most children, but the farm, animals, land, and work behind those products can be much less familiar.
Lauren Madison Barrett wants to change that.
Through her initiative, Seed to Table, Lauren is turning her lifelong connection to agriculture into opportunities to educate children and build a greater understanding of the industry.
“The mission behind Seed to Table has always been simple: teach people where their food comes from, teach them how they can grow their own food or access food grown locally, and, most importantly, teach them why they should thank a farmer,” Lauren explained.
The idea grew from Lauren’s own experiences on both sides of that divide.
A third-generation dairy farmer, agriculture had always been part of Lauren’s everyday life. That changed in sixth grade when she moved from a community where agriculture was familiar to one where many students did not understand the lifestyle she came from.
“I was called a ‘farm girl’ and a ‘redneck,’ and at that age, being different could feel embarrassing,” Lauren said. “As I grew older, I realized that the very things I had once been made to feel different for were some of the things I was most proud of.”
“I also realized there was a gap in agricultural education,” she continued. “My school did not offer agriculture education classes, and I began thinking about how different perceptions of agriculture might be if every child had the opportunity to understand it. Instead of expecting people to value an industry they may know very little about, I wanted to help give them the opportunity to experience it.”
That opportunity became the heart of Seed to Table.
Now as an adult, Lauren has since taken the platform to more than 30 schools and events across Kentucky with her “farm petting zoo,” allowing children to get close to animals that help provide commodities they encounter in their everyday lives.
“There is something incredibly special about watching a child make that connection for the first time,” Lauren said. “Agriculture becomes more than something they see from the window of a car or on a grocery store shelf. It becomes real.”
Long before Lauren began creating those experiences for other children, however, others were doing the same for her.
“Agriculture has been woven into my life for as long as I can remember, but my own 4-H journey officially began when I was eight years old,” she said. “I was influenced by watching my older sister participate in 4-H, and what started as wanting to follow in her footsteps became an eleven-year experience that helped shape the person I am today. I remained active in 4-H until I aged out at 19, and some of my favorite childhood memories and lifelong friendships came from those years.”
While agriculture was already part of everyday life at home, 4-H gave Lauren opportunities to build upon that knowledge. During her eleven years in the program, she showed dairy cattle, participated in dairy cattle judging and Dairy Jeopardy, competed in speech contests, attended 4-H camp, and entered projects in the Floral Hall competitions, including quilts, pepper jelly, and vegetables she grew in her own garden. She traveled across Kentucky showing cattle and competing, creating memories and friendships along the way. What Lauren viewed at the time as simply doing something she loved with people she loved, she now recognizes as experiences that were quietly teaching her lessons she would carry into adulthood.
Lauren credits her late stepfather, Brad Bailey, the late Roy Myatt, and her sister as three of her greatest influences, particularly when it came to dairy cattle.
“They helped foster a love and respect for agriculture that has followed me throughout every stage of my life,” she said.
The lessons she carried forward were not limited to what she learned about farming.
“4-H taught me far more than how to show a cow, judge dairy cattle, grow a garden, or give a speech,” Lauren said. “It taught me how to work hard when nobody was watching, how to take pride in doing something well, how to speak confidently in front of others, and how to both win and lose graciously. It taught me responsibility, integrity, perseverance, leadership, and service. Those are lessons I carried with me when I aged out of 4-H, and they continue to influence the choices I make as an adult.”
Her experiences also shaped the broader message she now carries through Seed to Table: that agriculture is not simply an occupation belonging to the people who work on farms.
“As I have gotten older, I have also realized that agriculture is about much more than the farm itself,” Lauren said. “Agriculture is community. It is service. It is families, traditions, businesses, educators, volunteers, and generations of people working together.”
That belief is also why Lauren sees value in giving children opportunities to experience agriculture regardless of where they live or what career they may eventually choose.
“There is a place in 4-H for every child,” she said. “The confidence, friendships, leadership skills, work ethic, and sense of belonging it can provide extend far beyond the agricultural industry.”
As Seed to Table has grown, Lauren has found ways to carry its message into another part of her life: pageantry.
“County fairs provided the perfect intersection between the two worlds,” Lauren explained. “The county fair system is deeply rooted in agriculture, community, and tradition, so using pageantry as another avenue to advocate for agriculture felt natural to me.”
Currently serving as Ms. Allen County Fair 2026, Lauren has used that role to extend the reach of Seed to Table. She recently hosted an agricultural promotion experience for county fair queens at Goode’s Riverside Creamery. The event gave Lauren an opportunity not only to educate those attending, but also to encourage other titleholders to carry agricultural education back to their own communities.
“County fair queens have a unique opportunity to serve as ambassadors for their communities, and I wanted to encourage them to use that platform to advocate for the agricultural industry that county fairs were built upon,” Lauren said. “For me, that is what everything comes back to: using whatever platform you have to serve someone else.”
Lauren sees the work she has already done through Seed to Table as only a beginning.
“My biggest dream for Seed to Table reaches far beyond any pageant title or crown,” she said. “I would love to see agricultural education implemented in every school in Kentucky. Agriculture affects every single person, every single day, whether they grew up on a farm or have never stepped foot on one. Our children deserve to understand where their food comes from and the people, animals, land, science, and hard work behind it.”
She also envisions a permanent home for that mission.
“My ultimate dream is to one day have a permanent Seed to Table classroom on my farm where schools, clubs, organizations, and families can come for hands-on agricultural education,” Lauren said. “I envision a place where children can grow something with their own hands, interact with livestock, learn where everyday products originate, meet the people who produce their food, and leave with a greater appreciation for agriculture. I hope it can become a place that continues educating children for generations to come.”
In many ways, the future Lauren envisions through Seed to Table reflects the opportunities that first introduced her to agricultural education as a child.
“When I think back to the eight-year-old girl who joined 4-H because she watched her big sister doing it, I don’t think she could have understood how important that decision would become,” Lauren said. “She certainly couldn’t have known that the cattle shows, speech contests, garden vegetables, Floral Hall entries, camps, competitions, miles traveled across Kentucky, friendships, wins, losses, and lessons would eventually become pieces of something much bigger.”
What began with a little sister following the example of her older sister became something Lauren now hopes to pass along herself.
“But that is the beauty of 4-H,” she said. “Sometimes you join because you want to show a cow, enter something you made, go to camp, or simply because your older sister is doing it. Somewhere along the way, though, you learn how to lead, serve, work, communicate, care for something beyond yourself, and take pride in where you come from.”
More than a decade after first joining 4-H, Lauren now finds herself on the other side of those childhood experiences with an opportunity to give something back.
“I aged out of 4-H at 19, but I never really left behind what 4-H gave me,” she said. “Today, I have the privilege of taking those lessons and planting them somewhere new. And hopefully, through Seed to Table, I can help plant those seeds in the next generation.”
