Educating about agriculture means providing people with an understanding of agriculture’s history, production, processing, marketing, distribution and nutritional aspects. "Agricultural literacy" is the term used for education about agriculture. This is different from education in agriculture, which refers to preparing individuals for careers in agriculture.

According to the National Research Council’s 1988 report, Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education, the goal of agricultural literacy is to "produce informed citizens able to participate in establishing policies that will support a competitive agricultural industry in this country and abroad." As more and more citizens become further removed from firsthand knowledge about agriculture, the need intensifies to connect them with agriculture in other ways.