Farm Sanctuary educational program in schools

NEW JERSEY (FOX5NY.COM) - Students from a middle school classroom in Paterson, New Jersey, are being transported via virtual reality to the rolling hills of an upstate New York farm to teach them about our modern farm system, where much of their food comes from.

For the past year, Farm Sanctuary humane educator Ben Araya has traveled to more than 40 schools in the greater New York area delivering presentations to some 5,000 students. Farm Sanctuary is a nonprofit animal rescue with two farm sanctuaries in California and one in Watkins Glen, New York. The animals at the sanctuaries, who all have names, are rescued from industrial farms, stock houses, and slaughterhouses.

Many of the students find the program and virtual reality journey to be eye-opening. The Farm Sanctuary classroom program also teaches students about the benefits of plant-based eating, though Araya realizes that completely changing their diets can be difficult for young people.

Several of the students told Fox 5 that the lesson made them want to make changes in how they eat.