Before food makes it to your table it comes from the heartland, the coasts, the plains, the mountains and the desert. Our food comes from families!
Families like mine that have been taking care of the land since the late 1800s. As well as families that have found more recent opportunities in agriculture.
Agriculture is so much more than food. It’s also medicine like pulmonary surfactant that helps babies born premature breathe! It’s the clothes we wear, the tires on our vehicles, and so many other items that we use every single day.
We don’t do this alone. Veterinarians, bankers, agronomists, nutritionists all make up our core team.
But that’s not all of us either. It’s the…
truckers, dispatch, elevators, the railroad, brokers, road crews, barge & ship crews.
Processors, mills, butchers, packers, bakeries and grocery stores.
Equipment & vehicle dealers, manufacturers, service techs, salesmen and our ride or die parts guy.
Researchers, scientists, and the educators of the next round of innovators.
Restaurants, cafes, doctors, dentists and nurses that keep us going.
Professionals that give updates on weather, markets, policy and happenings that affect them all.
Electricians, plumbers, machinists and soldiers.
Negotiators, commodity groups, lobbyists and politicians.
Local suppliers of propane, fuel, seed, chemical, fertilizer, tires.
Accountants, tax pros and landlords.
All of our tech companies and tech support!
Extended family that shows up for the big days and eats every holiday meal late because we are doing chores.
The village that watches our littles.
Priests and pastors and the congregation that prays through it all.
We are agriculture. All of us.
The next time you say grace over a meal, know that your food came from families. Families like ours.
