The moon says Hello!

It is 4:07am and my cold & flu ridden body has announced that it’s time to get up because it feels better. Geez, I’m a morning person, but this is a tad extreme (I’m sure the dairy farmers are up long before this so I’ll quit whining) …. And so on this cold dark February morning let me catch you up on what has been going on at the Anderson Farm. 2 days after getting back from the Hawaiian field trip, Farmer Joe had wheat industry meetings to attend, both in Boise and then a few days later in our national’s capitol. This year he is the president of the Idaho Grain Producer’s Association (IGPA) and his volunteer duties include lots of winter meetings as the farm fields lie in wait for the warmth of spring to come.

Yup, the farmer cleans up pretty good! =)

Farmers have a "feel good job"

Last night I attended a board meeting for a foundation non-profit group that I belong to.  One of the members, Annette, who works at the local Farm Service Agency was saying how she loved her job and that it was a "feel good" job.  She knew that what she did each day helped farmers and that in turn then helped the farmers to go out and do their job of feeding the world.  What a great perspective!  Thank you Annette and to all the other people who work in the government agencies that help our farmers with the farm programs.  Here are some interesting farm facts about the Farm Bill:

• More than 70% of farm bill-related spending goes to food and nutrition programs like food stamps, not to farmers.
• The farm bill invests $406 billion over 10 years in nutrition programs, helping more than 38 million Americans afford healthy meals and updating the Food Stamp Program to reflect today’s challenges.
• The farm safety net was cut by $3.5 billion in the 2008 farm bill. Factor in cuts to crop insurance and farmers’ funding fell $7.4 billion

Her statement got me to thinking back to the conference we attended earlier this month and that was exactly the very same sentiment expressed by the farmers and ranchers that we met.  The stories were varied, but the common theme was the same, we love what we do, it is a  "feel good job".  

So the next time you grocery shop or prepare a meal, remember all of the people who work really hard and make it possible to enjoy this fact:  "America has the cheapest, safest, most abundant food supply in the world."  Yup, it is a feel good job.