***The morning and night sky have been awe-inspiring this spring.***

Technology helped us capture images of the eclipse and northern lights, but Mother Nature delivered the goods.

A big thanks to photographer and 4-H Center Program Director Shannon Caldwell who shared her photographs of the northern lights over the 4-H Center in Ferndale, Arkansas. If you haven’t been to the Vines Center, you are missing something special.

As you can see, the Arkansas Vines 4-H Center is an amazing location for all kinds of business functions!

We were fortunate to host the 2024 Soy Chef training at the Vines Center on May 6th-8th!

B & B and the Mid-South Soybean Board are providing partnership grants to the University of Missouri Extension Service and the University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, Family and Consumer Sciences teams. Our goal is to provide education and outreach, expanding America’s food culture to include whole soy foods.

The 2024 Soy Chef™ goal is to partner with Cooperative Extension Service nutrition, health, and education professionals, developing multi-state research and education teams for support of Mid-South acceptance and consumption of vegetable soybeans and whole soy foods as a staple in a healthy American diet.

State planning team participants included:

University of Missouri – Extension: Sarah Wood, Assistant Extension Professor, State Nutrition Specialist, Department of Health Sciences, and MU Extension Health and Human Sciences, and Hannah Whittaker, Field Specialist, Nutrition and Health.

University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, Family and Consumer Sciences: Christine Sasse, Nutrition Instructor; Leigh Ann Bullington, FCS Educator; Keith Statham-Cleek, FCS Educator; Christie Wagley, County Extension Agent, FCS/4-H, Poinsett County; and Julian Carpenter, County Extension Agent, FCS, Independence County.

Faculty members included Mandie Smith, MS, RD, LD from Atlanta, Georgia; Stephanie Spencer, RN, BSN, DipACLM; Diedre Young, MAT and Keith Harris, MA, EdS representing the Soybean Science Challenge, and Karen Ballard.

A big thanks to Ginger Ellison and Dr. Lynn Wilson who provided tremendous support from beginning to end!