FB Women Work to Change Perceptions About Agriculture
SEATTLE, January 10, 2010 – The American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee is challenging Farm Bureau women to focus on changing public perceptions about agriculture and family farms and ranches in 2010, according to Terry Gilbert, committee chair.
Gilbert, a corn and cattle producer from Danville, Ky., addressed her fellow state Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee leaders and members during AFBF’s 91st annual meeting.
“There are so many opportunities today for us to effectively ‘put a face’ on agriculture, to speak out for our industry and the food security that Americans have come to rely on us for,” Gilbert said. While acknowledging that agriculture is confronting many challenges today, Gilbert noted, “Our industry is respected…and farm women continue to be seen as credible sources about the way food, fiber and renewable fuels are produced.”
The number of women farm operators continues to increase, Gilbert said. According to the Agriculture Department’s most recent Census of Agriculture, more than 30 percent of all U.S. farms and ranches are owned by women.
“There are unlimited possibilities for women who are directly involved in agriculture,” Gilbert said. “I encourage you to make the most of them.”
In 2009, program activities for the committee included raising funds for five scholarships for teachers to attend the National Ag in the Classroom conference through the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s White-Reinhardt Fund for Education. The committee also awarded 23 grants to county and state Farm Bureaus to create or expand agricultural education programs. Using social media to help put a face agriculture is another recent endeavor of the committee, which has a Facebook fan page and a presence on Twitter, the micro-blogging site.
Gilbert said Farm Bureau’s Food Check-Out Week, coming up in February, provides another excellent opportunity for farmers and ranchers to reach out to consumers. Food Check-Out events featuring the theme “Stretching your grocery dollar with healthy, nutritious food” are conducted by Farm Bureaus around the nation to benefit Ronald McDonald Houses and other charities.
Committee members Isabella Chism of Indiana, Frances Price of South Carolina, Beth Pool, New Jersey and Margene Harris of New Mexico were nominated for re-election to two-year terms. The AFBF delegate body will vote on the nominations at the conclusion of the organization’s annual meeting.
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| Contacts: | Tracy Taylor Grondine (202) 316-6377 tracyg@fb.org |
Mace Thornton (540) 846-0263 macet@fb.org |
