The purpose of AgForLife is to create awareness of opportunities in agriculture, food and life sciences among middle school, high school and college students as well as educators and professionals within the industry.

The concept for AgForLife began when Edward Romero from Texas A&M University shared his idea with a group of agriculture industry human resource professionals from leading agriculture and food organizations met in 2004 to discuss ideas for an upcoming human resources meeting.  Reoccurring topics of discussion among this group included the negative perception the general public has of jobs in agriculture and the lack of minorities and others seeking agriculture careers. AgForLife, initially called "Careers in the Food Chain" was the brainchild of this group. 

Edward Romero, assistant dean at the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, and Pablo Ramirez , a graduate student pursing a master’s degree in agribusiness at Texas A&M University, created the model for the AgForLife Virtual Career Guide. Its purpose is to help educate the general public about occupational and career opportunities in agriculture, food and life sciences.  The model depicts the visual integration of how agriculture plays a role in various systems of society and how they work in tandem with programs in agricultural schools and colleges to provide opportunities in many different fields.

The AgForLife Virtual Career Guide is a novel process that will help affect and change negative perceptions of agriculture. Many equate an agriculture-related career to farm and ranch production.  AgForLife hopes to change the current and sometimes negative perception and reveal the many diverse career opportunities represented by agriculture, food and life sciences.

AgCareers.com,  the leading on-line career resource in the field of agriculture, helped create the AgForLife concept, turning an idea into an initiative that will make agriculture a more attractive career opportunity for America's youth.

Eric Spell, president of AgCareers.com, directs the AgForLife program.

AgForLife came to life in 2004 when Altria awarded a grant through the companies Shared Solutions grant program.  Funds were matched by Pioneer.  Texas A&M University provided the resources for creation and development of the virtual career guide model.  AgForLife was launched on August 9, 2005 at a news conference prior to the 3rd Annual Ag Human Resources Roundtable in Greensboro, North Carolina.