ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Gracie Giles was born and raised on a farm, so it's no surprise that she joined the Future Farmers of America in her freshman year of high school. Since then, she's been able to showcase her passion for all things farming and agriculture.
"Honestly, getting to go into these schools to help deepen the agricultural education and just kind of help them through life," said Giles.
Gracie is the first female and only student from Anderson County to be chosen to represent East Tennessee in the State Star Farmer Award, which she said is hard to win.
"I've competed in many career development contests and leadership development contests, which ultimately today have led me to run for the Tennessee state star farmer. And I'm really honored that I was able to win the eastern division," said Giles.
In order to win this award, Gracie had to fill out multiple applications, take a few different courses and do multiple interviews. The Tennessee FFA Foundation said students like Gracie are why they do what they do.
"I think that one of the best things that I see, is just when a student is able to step into that room in front of the judges and really embrace who they are and speak about their projects, what they're passionate about and represent themselves," said Chelsea Carpenter, Executive Director of Tennessee FFA Foundation.
Gracie said it's important for people to know that FFA isn't just cows and plows, and that one of her favorite things about it is helping others.
"We have a partnership with USDA and Second Harvest, where we donate roughly 5,000 lbs of meat a month to Cokesbury Chapel in Knoxville and St. Mary's in Oak Ridge. We get paid through this program and honestly, it fuels my passion for community service and giving back," said Giles.
Gracie said even though she didn't win the State Award, that won't stop her from farming. She plans on dual majoring in Agricultural Marketing and Agriculture Communications.
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