Abundant. Affordable. Amazing.

Yes - that's the theme for Ag Day 2010. Let's start off with some quick trivia. Did you know that 1 Farmer feeds 144 people. Not kidding. That in itself is Amazing.

My mom and I generally spend our Saturday's running errands. We always start with breakfast. It's become our little tradition (as long as I'm not traveling over a weekend) we head to breakfast on Saturday morning and then run our errands for the week. It's a nice way to spend some quality time with my momma. Especially since I don't get to see her too often during the week. Yesterday - we started our morning with a trip to Lewistown. See, two of our County Farm Bureau's put on a Farmer Share of the Food Dollar Breakfast. We started at Fulton County Farm Bureau and decided to work our way back. This is how we were greeted when we pulled into the Farm Bureau Building:


I think it's a great visual for the fact that we think about constantly. Back to the breakfast.. They were serving eggs, sausage gravy & biscuits, bacon, toast and pancakes. Total cost for two people: $1.18. Yep. Out of all of those items that were served the farmer only receives $.59. It's jaw dropping to say the least. The breakfasts are always well publicized and brings a lot of attention to the consumer about the food they purchase. After all, if we're not telling our story who will? Well.. I'm sure plenty of folks out there want to tell our story - it's just not the correct version. So our morning continued.. we headed back to Peoria for the Peoria County Farm Bureau's Farmer Share of the Dollar Breakfast. We met Courtney and her parents there for breakfast. A little more expensive in Peoria.. but a modest $.60 for (2) Pancakes, (2) 2 oz whole hog sausage patties, (2) scrambled eggs, OJ and Milk. It was mighty tasty, too. But around 9am I heard rumblings that they had already served well over 800 people and the line was all the way out the door.



I think the breakfasts' allowed for a few things... People to get an awesome meal for a great deal and for folks involved in agriculture to use an avenue that we all love (food) to educate consumers about the pathway their food takes. Education comes from many different forms. One of my favorite is the shock value of the WTF shirts. They are a conversation starter in one of my favorite forms... Pictured rockin her WTF shirt is my friend Janice (she has a great blog.. click HERE to read it). Lookin good Janice! (I hope you don't mind me snagging it from your blog... I just couldn't pass up on using it).

How did you celebrate National Ag Day? Whether it was simply purchasing groceries at the store. Buying dinner. Eating a steak (we'll address the Michigan Governor in another post...). Or rocking your awesome WTF shirt. It doesn't matter. Take pride in your tie to agriculture. Remember - if you eat you're involved.

So, take a minute.. Tell a farmer "Thanks". Listen to their story. Because that field to the fork trip is an amazing story... And one that should be told correctly. I love hearing it. I love watching it being told. Especially when it's told by the people that provide the food for us.

Happy National Ag Day. From our field... to your fork.

ENOUGH Already

I've had it.

I'm fed up.

I am sick and tired.

And if you don't like it - find something else to eat. What am I talking about? The recent attacks on production agriculture. From Food, Inc., The Omnivore's Dilemma, and most recently the Time Magazine Article about "the high price of cheap food". After hearing Anne Burkholder's (a feedlot manager/owner from Cozad, NE) story I've reached my limit. I'm so tired of agriculture telling their story and then the mass media failing to not relay that same story. But twisting what they have been told into their version of the truth.

I love the fact that Bryan Walsh of Time Magazine spent hours interviewing people involved in production agriculture to only use one quote. And a quote that was misrepresented at that. I'd love for Bryan Walsh to come out to our farm. Let's talk. Let me take you on a tour of our facilities as well as my listeners farms. Talk to them. Sit down at their dinner table and have a real conversation about the farmer's struggles, their love of an industry, how technologies are improving to produce more with less, etc. (Should I continue to list how farmers are continuing to better the world?) But why don't you tell their real story? The story they love to tell. How about the story of how two percent of the worlds population feeds the remaining ninety-eight percent. Not to mention they do it on less ground, fighting things they have no control over - like weather. No one is perfect - nor do we expect them to be. People make mistakes - there is the occasional "bad seed". But, farmers are a master of their trade. Let them do their job to the best of their ability.

My favorite part of Walsh's article? He refers to Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser as investigative journalist who are "awakening a sleeping public to the uncomfortable realities of how we eat". I wouldn't call that awakening - I'd call that instilling fear into a society that is becoming further and further removed from the farm and has no grasp nor desire to learn the realities that go along with farming and how their food gets from the field to the fork.

I'll admit - I didn't want to see Food, Inc. I knew I'd get all out of sorts not only watching the movie but from the comments that would undoubtedly come from the peanut gallery. That's why I refused to drive to Chicago to see it. I figured if it came to Peoria - I'd go see it. It did. I kept up my end of the bargain. To my surprise I wasn't as "upset" as I thought I would be. I was more in shock of what I saw. I spent the majority of my time shaking my head in disbelief. I had to pry my eyes from the back of my head from several parts. I actually laughed out loud at a few things. It wasn't a heartless laugh... It was a more "wtf" kind of chuckle. Well, except when the chicken farmer pulled up to the farm and says "smells like money" when he gets a whiff of the stench of the manure. That statement brought back memories of my childhood - when I'd complain that we lived downwind from the farm "Meghan, That's the Smell of Money" my dad would say. (If only that was the case today).

My point of all of this? I love seeing Agriculture standing up for themselves. There is no rolling with the punches anymore. We're moving into a time where we have to be heard. Thank you to people like Anne Burkholder, Blake Hurst who wrote The Omnivore's Delusion, The National Cattleman's Beef Association, The American Farm Bureau Federation, all of those involved in all aspects of agriculture using tools like social media to educate the consumers.

Say what you have to say loudly.

Say it proudly.

Lessons in Life Often Forgotten

We're headed to the state fair. Actually, I am already here. I got here this morning to a wonderful surprise. Let's just say it was unexpected and I was ecstatic for such a wonderful morning.

Things are great down here.. Some of the things I have always loved are still here- the smell of the barns, the dust that makes breathing impossible and parking, oh parking how I love you - which as usual was a bitch... But it's the state fair... What else did I expect?

I just watched the Champion Crossbred Barrow drive and I was excited to see one of our local kids take Champion. It reminded me of my love of this time of year. But when I look back and relive the "glory days" in my mind I realize things have changed so much since my last year in 4-H... 10 years ago. The rings are different, the attire is different and most definitely the industry standard has changed. That's the amazing thing about life - so many things can change but so many things can remain the same. I've been removed from the show ring for a few years... As I've started attending more shows, as I watch the kids in the show ring and get acclimated with some of the new families I remember how much I loved it and how much 4-H was such an influential part of my life. The people, (from the new ones I am just meeting to the ones I have know most of my life) are just as nice as ever. They're friendly, competitive and no matter what - generally willing to lend a helping hand.

I preach (and sometimes yes it feels like preaching) how important the 4-H program is. The more I see it in action - the more fond I grow of its effects on the youth and the future leaders of the agriculture industry. I couldn't be more honest when I say this - and it is a little embarrassing to admit - I think my appreciation for the participants and the life lessons they learn has grown more so now than it did ten or even fifteen years ago when I was active in 4-H. I also have a special place in my heart for all the people that make this thing happen. It certainly isn't an easy task and it takes quite a lot for them to prepare as well.

Mike and I attend and broadcast from over 20 county fairs and town festivals every year and no matter where we are - I always get the same vibe.. 4-H is an important part of their life and their childhood. They're learning the lessons on their own that we often times forget to reinforce. Kids learn how to speak, they learn responsibility and most importantly they learn how to win and lose graciously. I am constantly impressed and amazed by these kids. They bring excitement to the future of agriculture.

So no matter how much things change... One thing will always remain the same.. 4-H does an amazing job shaping our youth into responsible and accountable young adults. I look forward to the hundreds of county fairs in my future and I am blessed to be able to tell their story. I think it is a story that should be told over and over and over again.

Remember the stories... Remember the lesson. I think sometimes we forget how important both are to our future.