Its important to know where your food comes from.
Events like Farm City Days can educate and connect urban residents to the reality of life on a farm, according to Curt and Alisha Mueller, this years Farm Marshals.
There are a lot of misconceptions about farming and how food is produced, Curt said. People think were all factory farms out here, and were not. Were individuals trying to do the best we can, including doing the best we can for our animals.
Were eating the same things people in town are eating. We also want it to be wholesome and healthy, he said.
Farmers adapt to the best growing and ranching practices, including new technology to make their jobs more efficient.
Theres getting to be a disconnect the further we go between generations, Curt said.
Technology like websites and blogs can help fill the gaps between farm and table. Farm tours used to be much more common, Mueller said. Now, though, even youth who grow up in a rural setting may not spend time on a working farm.
On the other hand, those gaps have created curiosity among some of the younger people. They want to know whats in their food and where it comes from, in order to make healthy choices about the food they consume.
To meet those demands, some grocery stores now provide information about specific farms that produce the items they sell.
A lot of ag groups have really worked to promote information from farmers to urban people so they know what were doing and why were doing it. Theres responsibility on both sides, but its up to us to get that story out there, Curt said.
Farm City Days is a great way to promote the work farmers do and help consumers understand where their food comes from, the Muellers said. They would like to see more communities follow suit with such events.
They ran a dairy farm for 30 years until January 2011. They often gave tours to local children. Curt commended Stricklers Dairy for continuing to promote tours. For several years, Curt helped with the tours when they were offered as part of Farm City Days.
Its not easy to host tours. It takes a lot of work, he said.
Farmers look for other ways to educate youth about farming. Alisha and a friend worked with The Growing Place, a preschool and daycare center in Humboldt, to organize a Farm to Table event that included planting a garden. The children may be too young to fully understand the value of farming, but she believes its important to reinforce those ideas from a young age.
We thought that was a good starting point, she said. I want people to understand we are trying to provide food they need. Its kind of a give and take.
We need each other, Curt added. I would encourage people, if they have questions, ask a farmer. Most of the ones I know would be more than glad to show someone how something is grown or produced.
