India, Oct. 14 -- Long before he became a Hollywood star, there was an 11-year-old in New York City sitting through a lecture on soil conservation. It's not exactly an exciting plan for most children. Yet, according to 4-H History Preservation News, that talk stayed with James Cagney for life. The Academy Award-winning actor later appeared in a 1956 4-H film promoting the idea of young people caring for their natural resources. It shows how one early spark can define what we care about for decades.

Cagney was born and raised in New York City. That is an unusual start for someone who later developed a passion for farming. His mother once took him to a lecture on soil conservation when he was young, which sparked his interest in farming an...