Be an Agvocate!

In an era where there is more potential for connection, it is mindblowing the disconnect people have with the necessities of life.  Stories of ignorant consumers asking, “Does chocolate milk come from a brown cow?” or “Why do people have to eat cows; can’t they just get their meat from the grocery store?” are pretty funny until we realize how terrifying it is to have a society clueless of where their food comes from.

Not long ago, my husband was perusing Facebook when he saw a post of a woman seriously concerned about the “crop circles” she was seeing on her cross country flight.  Maybe she has no way of knowing that it’s not aliens in spaceships but rather farmers with pivots that make those green circles dotting the country, but since we live in a day and age where she could have just asked Siri, I’m a little concerned.

In the day of our pioneer ancestors, nearly everyone had a milk cow and grew crops as a part of their livelihood.  Even those that ran the country store or the telegraph had their own garden at the back of their house.  They knew that if they didn’t grow it, they might not have food to make it through the winter.  They knew what it took to plant a seed, nourish and tend it for weeks on end so they could put food on the table.  99% of the population had a hand in farming.

Advancements in science and technology have enabled a few to feed millions, and that’s a good thing.  The grain elevator, the refrigerated railcar, and the modern engine are just a few of the advancements that catapulted farming capabilities to what we have today.  And now instead of 99% of people working to feed the country, only 1% take on that role.  That statistic is both exciting and unnerving; exciting that we can see how so few can produce so much but unnerving to realize that so many are so disconnected to the origins of their food.

For most, I do believe that common sense wins out and they know chocolate milk doesn’t come from a brown cow and that groceries don’t magically appear on the store shelves.  But I’m sure there are so many parts of agriculture they don’t grasp because they have no experience to speak of.

While we won’t ever go back to everyone plowing a field to fill their winter stores, I don’t think that we have to remain in such a divided state between the producers and consumers.  But to have a productive conversation that actually enlightens and connects is going to take genuine effort on both sides of the aisle.

Anyone and everyone involved in any aspect of agriculture needs to find a way to share their story.  This isn’t a new idea, but now more than ever it is the people doing the growing, cultivating, and harvesting that need to explain how the work is done.  Farmers and ranchers have assumed for too long that people know what they know.  

I can understand some hesitation or apprehension to sharing farming or ranching practices in a world that is quick to critique and condemn.  Those loudest voices aren’t many and they are drowning out the valid questions of those that want to understand how things work.  

Sharing about agriculture, putting a family and a face to the industry is easier than you might think.  Posting pictures, videos, and stories on social media can be done with just a few clicks of a button.  Even if your circle only includes your friends and family, it’s likely that not everyone there knows what it takes to raise your crops.  Connecting just one person back to ag will make
a difference.

For consumers that have never set foot on a farm, seen a tractor or laid eyes on a cow, you have work to do too.  First, go to the source for questions!  Google may have an answer for everything, but that doesn’t make it accurate.  Sift through the myriad of answers on the internet to find a producer that you can connect with.

Second, if you hear something about agriculture and it doesn’t come directly from a producer, question it.  Is what you are hearing a marketing gimmick or a current fad meant to sway you
one way?

Third, be an agvocate yourself.  As you start to learn more about agriculture, tell other people.  Help them realize where their food comes from and all the hard work farmers and ranchers do to provide for them.

Even though I do get a good chuckle at all the naive or ignorant remarks made about agriculture, it’s time for those jokes to be a thing of the past.  For as much as society has learned over decades of accomplishment and advancement, our understanding of life necessities seems to be regressing at an alarming rate.  Let’s reconnect the disconnect about farming
and ranching.