I have been pretty busy with the start of a new school year, canning tomatoes, and trying my hand at floral arrangements for one of my dearest friends weddings this week.
I have been pretty excited about the introduction aspect of my high school ag classes and trying to share with them the scope of the agriculture industry, the need for change that moved agriculture from primitive production methods to methods that rely on technology and scientific discoveries.
It is so awesome to be able to share the story of American Agriculture with 150 students each day. I really do enjoy being able to share my story and my passion for living a rural lifestyle with my students. I can also see that they appreciate my enthusiasm!
This week we used an apple as an example of the world and discovered that less than 4% of the earth is productive farmland. This is a scary situation! It is even more alarming win you discover that the world's population relies on less than 2% percent of its members to grow their food.
Two separate and unprovoked conversation's today have reinforced my desire to continue to share Agriculture's Story. I have decided that their are basically three types of people in this world - farmers, happy consumers, misinformed consumers, and vocal consumers who have formed a negative opinion of modern day agriculture (Is there a way to shorten the name of this last group - VCNOMA) VCNOMAs form their opinions from media biased scientific studies, and political agendas. What do people listen to? Negative, negative breeds negative, and that is the story that gets repeated. It's human nature....
Until a few years ago farmers were letting these VCNOMAs tell their story, but there is a huge group of involved agriculture advocates ("agvocates") who are now telling the first hand story of what does happen on farming practices around the globe! I think it is my duty as a teacher, a mother, and a farmer to share the truth about farming to those that are still willing to hear the facts about what really happens on a modern day agriculture operation.
Consumers are three, four, and five generations removed form agriculture and food production, and when they hear information that could be perceived as negative then it is only natural to assume the worst must be true. A huge example of this problem is the use of herbicides or chemicals in farming. Did you know that homeowners use 10 times more chemical pesticides than farmers. An organization called Environment and Human Health, Inc, and several other groups report detailed information about this fact.
The second conversation was a statement that kids are getting bigger, because the chicken that they eat contains hormones. This same issue was brought up by another person the week before....So, it is obviously an important topic in this neck of the woods. Please listen to this specialist in Poultry Science. Hormone use has been strictly prohibited in the chicken and pork industry for years.
As a mother, agriculture teacher, and farmer, I can assure you that the food produced on Modern Agricultural Operations is safe. There are so many regulatory laws that insure the safety of our food system in the United States that it would be impossible for farmers to continue producing food if they were not following these guidelines. Please inform yourself, before anymore untrue rumors are spread about modern day farming.
Choice! If consumers are still leery or concerned with food production practices, then by all means they have a choice. Your choice is to get dirty/active and grow your own food. However, majority of consumers are unwilling to participate in food production, and still want to criticize. Why??? In my humble opinion a consumer that relies on something and criticizes it, but is unwilling to play a role in its production should then loose the right to be critical at all. Ask questions, raise concerns, but don't criticize or be apart of the negative rumors if you are unwilling to grow your own food. An unwillingness to produce your own food indicates that you really don't have an issue with its safety.
As always farmers will continue to meet the demands of consumers as they have for centuries. Farmers are proud of what they do, confident in product safety, and dedicated to finding new and better production practices. American farmer's produce the safest, most abundant, and most affordable food supply in the world.
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