Thursday, March 10, 2011

Farmer, Inc. The Real Story


Wheat Harvest on the Anderson Farm
What will wake me up at 4:10am? An idea so simple I’m wondering why no other agriculture advocacy person or group is doing this. Well, it will take a fair amount of organization and work, but I’m your gal.


At the farm conference that the farmer (Joe) and I just got back from,  all of the sessions I attended were geared towards agriculture advocacy, telling our story and the need to create trust with the consumer. Some farmers like us have blogs, Facebook, Twitter accounts to help, but we are scattered all over the country. One of the speakers said something that has been bouncing around my brain and what Troy Hadrick (http://www.advocatesforag.com/) said was, if you have a question about agriculture, ask the farmer, don’t “Google” it or ask Orprah, but ASK THE FARMER. Then I attended another session that was using their survey findings and it showed that many consumers do look to the Internet as a source when questions arise about food safety. Makes sense as we google everything else, so why not have a central site to direct people to the right source, the real people who grow the food.  So why isn’t there a central website to put the American consumer in touch with the farmer? I did a quick search and nothing…. So in honor of Agriculture Day on March 15, I will begin the task of doing just that, setting up a blog site that will put the everyday consumer in touch with the real people who produce their food. It will be their tool to find a farmer to ask questions.


My favorite yard sale find, it is proudly displayed in my kitchen

As always, hope you enjoy the blog and feel free to email me at idahofarmwife@gmail.com if you have questions or comments.  Best Regards, Gayle