Advocate for Agriculture

In thinking about being an advocate for agriculture, the most obvious way is to talk to large groups of people about what agriculture is. It's not just a job, or a a way to earn money, it is a lifestyle.

However, I think the greatest advocating for agriculture occurs in our everyday lives. Just last week, I told a doctor that I was an agricultural education major. The conversation started when he told me he liked my boots. I then went on to tell him and the two nurses I was with about my future career. I told them everything that I wanted to do, and teach and how I planned to encourage students to do great things in the world, through agriculture. I could see his mind turning. "How does agriculture at all affect how kids these days can do great things?" So, I told him, very briefly as there were other things for each of us to do that day, his of course earning much more money than mine. I informed him that agriculture teaches students many lessons and as the the leading and most basic industry in our country, provides jobs for millions of people, teaching life skills, and encourages students to achieve their goals.

Just a brief conversation hopefully got his head spinning. Will I ever see him again? Chances are no, but if I can plant a seed in one person about agriculture every single day, that in itself is making a difference i our world and in our industry.

I think that so many people take our lives for granted. We don't think about how much people do so that we are able to go to school, fill our cars up with gasoline (and grunt about the never ending price increase), dream about diamond engagement rings, picture our futures. We too often forget about the farmer who worked hard to put food on our dinner table, to put the milk in our glasses. There too, at Ohio State, who thinks on a daily basis about the Neil Farm, on which our University was built? I know I don't.

In my car I have a bumper sticker that reads, "If you enjoyed a good meal today, Thank a Farmer." I think life is as simple as that, thank people for what they do for you. Say "Fiddlesticks" when you're upset, be thankful when little things in life go the way you wanted, and and above all, thank a farmer for providing us with food, fiber and fuel to live our daily lives.