I was recently approached by a woman in our community who asked if I could help unload a truckload of food for our local food bank. Like any other farmer at this time of year, I was hesitant because of all the things that needed to be done at home in the fields; but I agreed to help. When the day arrived, it had already been one of those crazy mornings when nothing seemed to go right. In order to speed things up, I decided to take one of our employees along to help. On the way to town, Nate and I talked about the food bank and programs like America’s Second Harvest and how Young Farmers and Ranchers across the nation participate and volunteer their time and energy to help people in need. After thinking about it for a bit, his response was, “Kind of cool to think the people that grew it are actually helping to give it away.” How true of a statement is that!
By this time, I had started to forget about how crazy the morning had been and started focusing more on unloading the truck. When we arrived, we were greeted graciously by the two women in charge of the food pantry and were given our unloading instructions. Cereal here, potatoes there, green beans over here…”Green beans,” I said. “We raise green beans.” So I looked at the can to see what kind they were. Nope, not ours; but that sure did start the questions flowing about our operation and what we did.
They were amazed at all the things (technology, record keeping, effort, care) that we put into raising our crops and animals. Later that night, I was thinking about how we often take for granted that people – even in our small communities (many we already know) – understand how and why we do things. It is our responsibility as young farmers and ranchers to be available and willing to answer their questions. If we do not, who will?