Why I Do What I Do

On my way to Farm Technology Days in July I found myself in a interesting spot. As I pulled up to a stoplight I looked to my right and just had to smirk. There sat a farmer, probably in his mid-fifties in a beat up Chevy truck. He reminded me of my dad, grubby hat, holes in his old t-shirt and dirt on his cheek. He was pulling a trailer full of what looked like Holstein heifers. Still having a red light in front of me I looked to my left I saw a family. The couple in the front was probably in their late twenties and in the back was a car seat with a baby sleeping. The car looked brand-new and expensive. The women was wearing a dress and the man was in a suit. As the light turned green I thought while I drove ahead, I have to be the middleman to these two people. It was like a calling... (kind of scary I know.)

I have been an "Ag"vocate my entire life. Plain and simple- I just want people to know where their food comes from. I want people to not hate farmers, to respect the work they do and understand how much hard work goes into producing food for the world. It's easy to get beaten down in the public relations ag world. With talk of GMOs, animal cruelty, HSUS and disease how do you spread the truth about agriculture and show people the positive light that they usually refuse to see? It's not an easy task, let me tell you.

Every job has its battles and ag PR has it's fair share and more, but to really succeed in a job like mine you have to enjoy what you do and I do.

Thought of the Day

I need to blog more.

Food For Thought

Growing up on a farm I have a sense of what feeding the world means. I have seen the labor that goes into planting, growing, and harvesting the raw products but usually don't get see the aftermath of processing, packaging and selling. Last week I had a chance to work at the Second Harvest Mobile Food Pantry for the first time.

Always on the list, but never getting crossed-off, I have had images of what working at a food pantry would be like. Consider me naive, but I couldn't help the Hollywood-embraced images of a diverse, unclean group of people flashed in my head as I rode in the van to Second Harvest.

After setting out the donated items, a steady stream of people worked their way through the blustery rain and biting cold. As the people packed their soggy cardboard boxes and carts and as I restocked the supply of potatoes and onions I couldn't help but take a moment to think about how much I overlook food.

Even being emerged in agriculture I don't always take time to think about how fortunate I am to have a steady food supply available to me. Americans only spend 10 percent of their income annually on food. That is quite remarkable considering other countries' percentages.

While I pondered my food gratitude I watched a woman decline the organic milk she was offered. At the same time a man rummaged through the potato bin in search of the red ones because he didn't care for the regular baking ones. After we finished the volunteers who had been on the other side of the bus said the ham and salami were the meat variety that "no one seemed to want".

I enjoyed volunteering at the Food Pantry. I really do like helping people who need it. It fascinated me though that even in a Food Pantry line there were choices for what kind of food people could choose to eat. I guess in a way it’s ironic. A good problem to have in the U.S.; choices in your food no matter your income. 

Good People Give You Gladness.

In the last 6 months I have lost two childhood heroes. I call them heroes not because they saved people’s lives while wearing caps and funny face paint, but rather because they helped better my life. 

Piano Wonderwoman: Mrs. Sanders was my piano teacher. She was an older lady who had a very fat cat. Piano lessons were never my thing but going to Mrs. Sanders was one of my favorite parts of the week. She listened to everything I had to say, which sometimes took 20 of the 30 minutes of my lesson. (Whoops.) She laughed at my jokes and family tales but also gave the best advice. Every Tuesday for years I spent my afternoons sitting on her piano bench chatting and occasionally playing. When she passed away last summer I felt like part of my childhood died with her. Even though I hadn’t seen her as much since leaving for college, she had been such a big part of my life for so long. I had written her a note when I heard how ill she had became. The card arrived the day after she had passed.  

Super Pastor: In the fourth grade my family switched churches. Growing up in a believing household we had been going to my mom’s childhood church since I was born. After grimacing and grueling about starting confirmation classes at our current church we looked for a new church with a better program. We ended up at a small rural church. The church was in a process of a transition. A new pastor was being called for. 

When I met Pastor Diener, who stood about 5’3”, I remember how friendly he was; so inviting and welcoming. I took my confirmation classes with him and his wife and although he never said it I knew he appreciated my jokes and begs for forgiveness when I didn’t know my memory work. For years I was in the church choir. Pastor approached me with the idea of having me do a solo for a Fourth of July picnic. He had me do solos for other services and encouraged the beginning of a teen choir at our church. When he announced his retirement in 2011 he asked if I would sing at his last service. How Great Thou Art rang through that church while the members sat with bittersweet thoughts of Pastor not coming back. This past summer a few weeks after getting engaged I called Pastor to tell him the news and ask him to do the honor of marrying Jon and I. He agreed and I was ecstatic. 

The past few months Pastor had been having numerous health problems. He passed away a couple months after baptizing his newest grand-baby. 

Neither of these people were family. Neither did I spend holidays with or call often. But both helped me grow into the person I have become. It’s hard letting go of pieces of your life.

Last thought: You never realize how much people influence your life until they leave it. Everyone you come across gives something to you: take it and cherish it.  

The Door Has Been Opened.

The Super Bowl drew millions of viewers. Between the blackout, the close ending and the commercials, honestly, I think it was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls I have ever seen. I always watch to see the commercials as I am what you might call an advertising nerd. I find it fascinating what techniques the big leagues pull out to get attention in the market. 

My post today isn’t a rant about how awful the Go-Daddy commercial was, how Beyonce rocked the half-time show or how freakin’ hilarious and entertaining the twitter-verse was during the blackout, but rather it is about one commercial that to me changed the world just a little. 

The God Made A Farmer commercial was hands-down the most talked about commercial. The surprise element, the tone, the simplicity, the placement in the game… everything about it was perfect. 

As a born-and-raised farm girl I have grown up in agriculture. Drowning in work, covered in dirt and living off the land I watched my mom and dad work endless hours doing something they loved. Never complaining about the hard work, never giving in to the burdens of winter weather or rainy springs and never taking no for an answer they still truck through the days working to feed people and themselves. 

I have always been a Chevy fan, I even drive a Silverado myself, but what Dodge did here is quite awesome. Agriculture is overlooked. Farmers and ranchers are overlooked. This commercial however, was not overlooked. Whether you loved it or hated it… you saw it. That’s half the battle of getting people to think about their food, just getting them to see who is behind it. A hurdle has been jumped thanks to Dodge. I sincerely think that even though most people are FIVE generations removed from production agriculture that there is a little farmer in us all. Farmers are who feeds us, farmers are our history and our future. It is a common ground every single person can and should support. 

The commercial opened the door. I think it is now time for people in the agriculture community to jump at this opportunity to educate and gain support. Doesn’t matter your religion. Doesn’t matter your race. Doesn’t matter if you like Taylor Swift or not. We all eat. We all need farmers and agriculture. Share this video and share your love for hardworking farmers and ranchers all over the world.  

Here Comes the Not-Detail-Oriented Bride...

Over the course of the next 18 months I will be planning a wedding. 

That statement has and still makes me shutter time-to-time. 

Every girl, since birth, has dreamed of her wedding; her dress, her choice of flowers and decorations, even what venue would be chosen. FALSE. (At least for me.) 

Of course I have thought about my wedding, literally everyone has, but I have never gotten to the details. I knew I wanted my family there, I wanted to have fun and last, but not least, I wanted it to be unique, but that sounds like every wedding I have ever been to, so my previous wedding planning thoughts don’t help much. 

I struggle and have always struggled with details. I am a big picture thinker.  I don’t spend hours picking out colors or caring what time an event should be. I don’t even worry about using a level when I hang photos. I usually eyeball it and hope for the best. My thinking is hey, at least it finally made it up on the wall. 

The wedding planning process shall prove to be an interesting one, especially with an organized and detail-loving fiancée. Let the stress begin and the memories be made while planning the family-oriented, fun and unique wedding of 2014. If I have bloopers along the way, I will be sure to share them. I mean I have seen Bridesmaids… something is bound to happen, let’s face it.  

Going. Going. Going.

I found my ol’ blog pretty bare when I checked it last. A lot has happened since my last post almost a year ago. I graduated college. I was a finalist for Alice in Dairyland. I earned a big-girl job in the big, bad grown up world. I moved away from everything I had built my life on so far. I traveled to New York for the third time in my life, where I gained a fiancé. (That’s a whole different story.) Many other friends got engaged (five to be exact) and one even had a baby. 

I have heard many people say that life goes by fast. After hanging on by my shoestrings the past year I believe that to be 100% true.  It is my understanding that it only gets faster. If that is the case I am going to have to invest in some good running shoes. 

Even though it is a little into the new year now, I have resolved that I want to keep track of my life better. I want to take more photos, write more and soak up as many memories as I can. 

The Packers aren’t in the Super Bowl, I am turning 23 in two days and it is -30 degrees outside. Might as well write, right?