Congratulations 2011 Ag Day Essay Contest winners!

Missouri FFA member Nora Faris recently won the 2011 Ag Day Essay Contest. Read her essay below or on the Ag Day website.
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Their faces peer out at me from the glossy cover of a magazine, the bold headline touting them as “America’s Most Valuable People”. Among their ranks are political pundits, ingenious inventors, humble humanitarians, and a host of other charismatic characters. Their varied accomplishments reflect a time-tested tradition of hard work and good ol’ American ingenuity, but their lofty title as our country’s “most valuable” citizens makes me wonder. Would Americans perish from “technological withdrawal” if Steve Jobs discontinued the iPad? No. Would a national crisis ensue if Lady GaGa retired from performing? I don’t think so. If Mark Zuckerberg terminated Facebook, would the world as we know it cease to exist? I think not.

Then it occurs to me: America’s “Most Valuable People” aren’t found on magazine covers. Rather, they are found in farm fields, feed stores, and livestock barns. They are American farmers, a group whose labors, although largely unrecognized, are vital to the lives of all U.S. citizens – or at least the ones that eat.

In this modern age of supermarkets and 24-hour fast food restaurants, it has become increasingly hard for the American public to fathom where their food comes from. Long gone are the days when a chicken dinner meant selecting a bird from the henhouse. Today’s consumer, faced with an endless array of choices, selects their poultry with little knowledge of its origin, unaware of the work that went into producing and dispatching the bird. They fail to realize the vital connection between farm and food, between production and consumption. Little do they realize that without our nation’s strong agricultural infrastructure of farmers, their grocery store shelves would be bare.

As America’s population continues to grow, a farmer’s job is to keep up with the escalating demand for food. They will have to play multiple roles in their quest to provide nutritious, affordable products for more than 300 million Americans. Farmers will become inventors, developing devices that will improve crop yields and abolish dated farming practices. They will become delegates for agriculture, lobbying for the advancement of farming in their legislatures. Most importantly, farmers will become naturalists, determining the best solutions for responsible soil, water, and resource management.

Although it’s unlikely that a soybean farmer from Kansas will ever steal Kim Kardashian’s VIP publicity, their true importance to their fellow citizens cannot be denied. American farmers’ dedication to maintaining an unrivaled level of food security makes them our nation’s “Most Valuable People”, even if they drive a Case instead of a Cadillac.

Giving Thanks...

This week, millions of Americans will gather around dinner tables with their families and friends to celebrate all the things for which they are grateful. And, as Americans, we have a lot to be grateful for, don’t we?

It’s likely that all of the food on your table this Thanksgiving was fairly easy to come by. The head chef of your holiday feast probably drove a short distance to the nearest grocery store to find the turkey, ham, potatoes, cranberries, green beans, corn meal, milk, pumpkin and other goods used to prepare your meal.

The fact that such a diverse array of foods is so readily available to you, and at affordable prices, is nothing short of a miracle. And for this miracle, you have America’s farmers and agriculturists to thank.

Millions of people in this world aren’t as fortunate. There are many countries that do not have an abundance of natural resources, a temperate climate or an infrastructure which would allow them to produce a surplus of food. In these countries, stopping by the nearest grocery store and choosing from among thousands of affordable food products is not an option. Finding and producing enough food to feed a family is a daily struggle.

Even here, in our land of plenty, there are many families who don’t have easy access to enough healthy, nutritious food. Some don’t have the money to purchase the food they need. Some don’t have reliable transportation to and from a grocery store. Many lack both income and transportation.

As aspiring farmers, scientists and business leaders, FFA members are poised to take on these food supply challenges in the coming decades. As the world’s population grows toward an expected 9 billion people by 2050, new agricultural technologies, farming techniques and food distribution methods will need to be developed in order to prevent widespread famine and starvation.

We encourage all FFA members to study hard and to apply the skills and knowledge they’re developing today to serving others tomorrow. Our livelihood is dependent upon our food supply, and in the years to come, our food supply may very well be dependent upon you.

Here at the National FFA Organization we’re thankful for today’s farmers. We’re thankful for all of the farmers who came before them and taught them well. And, we’re thankful for all of our future farmers, who will ensure a brighter tomorrow for us all.

Have a safe and happy Thankgiving, everyone!