Take a moment to think where your food comes from – the very root of where it began!
In a generation focused on the fast-paced hustle and bustle that our culture seems to thrive on, many of us forget where the food on the very plate in front of us comes from.
In honor of National Agriculture Day I would like to take a moment to thank something we all get the privilege to be a part of – farming.
You might be thinking, “Well, I live in an apartment building in the middle of a city… I’m not a part of agriculture!”
Actually, if you eat, then you are… We all are, and it’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of.
Growing up I considered it a privilege to be raised a country girl and to this day I am thankful for that lifestyle. It was on our farm that I learned where my food came from and to be thankful for it. I learned how much energy, time, money, responsibility and care it took to get a glass of milk.
From milking my dairy cow Daisy Mae every morning and night, putting a load of hay in the barn in preparation for winter, to planting a garden every summer, I learned to value all the hard work that must go into everything done on the farm. Beyond my own experience I am even more thankful for the farm families that cover this state and work tirelessly to grow our food.
“Its hard work, but its noble work. It is noble because we are feeding others.”
Dairy farming is about family.
Farmers work endlessly to, farm by farm, feed family by family across our state and Nation.
So today, I thank the farmer.
The farmer whose morning began at 4 a.m. and ended hours after the sun set.
The farmer who stayed up all night to watch a sick cow.
The farmer who baled hay until 1 in the morning to save it from the coming rain.
The farmer who waved to me yesterday when I passed by on my way into town.
The food we buy in the store didn’t just start there – it all started on the farm. The farm you might drive by every morning on your way to work or the farm in the middle of nowhere miles down a dirt road. No matter location or size, behind nearly every farm across our country is one common thread – a family.
I am truly grateful that farming is a family affair.
So today, when we thank a farmer lets thank the farmer’s family too. I once heard a dairy farmer say “Its hard work, but its noble work.” She paused and then continued “It is noble because we are feeding others.”
My dairy cow Daisy Mae was the first to teach me how much work goes into each day on the farm and I am reminded still that even when a warm cozy evening on the couch sounds far more appealing than chores in the rain I can’t just take a day off. The work might be never-ending but I am forever grateful to be a part of this farming community and am happy to call them all family.
Until next time,
