Farmers aren’t a different species. They are people like you and me. We often learn best in community, from friends and neighbors—not as competitors but as people with shared interests, businesses to run and families to feed.
| | | | | | | | | The Importance Of Supporting Farmers In Their Community Development | | | The immense gift of learning from friends and neighbors became evident earlier this summer as my wife, Julie, and I built a chicken run for the first time. (Raccoons and potentially opossums devastated our children’s prized 4-H birds two weeks before the fair this year. We weren’t going to let that happen again.) Let me say upfront: We are hobby farmers at best. My wife deserves that title. A helping hand—and occasionally a grumpy one, especially in new and unfamiliar circumstances requiring brute force—best describes my own.
As I reflected on the theme of this week’s newsletter, all about the importance of supporting farmers in developing community in its many forms, I thought back to that building project and realized our own community showed up to help in spades. Friends volunteered to bring excavators and other tools to dig post holes. They also let us borrow saws, drills, sawhorses and their measuring acumen to get the run constructed in a way that keeps critters out and lets us get in. When it was all said and done, our community not only shared an abundance of hardware but also transferred knowledge: A woodworking friend taught us how to build and square up a door. My wife taught me the value of having a good blueprint and sticking with a vision long enough to see it through to completion. Those lessons will last for decades to come.
Farmers aren’t a different species. They are people like you and me. We often learn best in community, from friends and neighbors—not as competitors but as people with shared interests, businesses to run and families to feed. What might be possible in your business or your work with farmers if you incorporated an element of community? I’d love to hear your ideas. Email me at nbirt@farmjournal.com.
Until next week,
Nate Birt
Vice President, Trust In Food™
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| | | | | | | | Farmer Insights Drive America’s Conservation Ag Movement Peer-To-Peer Learning Communities | | | Shared by Emily Smith, community engagement coordinator, Trust In Food: Supporting farmers and ranchers on their regenerative agriculture journey is at the heart of what we do every day. One example of this producer-led approach is America’s Conservation Ag Movement, and specifically, through the leadership of our Conservation Stewards. With their guidance, we are able to meet farmers and ranchers where they are at, providing resources and a platform for sharing their journey with peers. This article highlights the authentic and relevant ways Conservation Stewards are successfully helping provide opportunities, virtual and in-person, to engage their neighbors and the broader farming community.
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| | | | | | | | Sustainable Produce Summit: Putting Ability In Sustainability | | | Trust In Food, alongside Farm Journal and The Packer, is presenting the 2021 Sustainable Produce Summit, September 13-17. Trust In Food serves growers and organizations in produce and specialty crops, and we're proud to serve this segment of the market through our participation. The virtual event will deliver both inspirational and actionable ideas for professionals throughout the fresh produce supply chain. Register today!
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| | | | | | Colorado River, Lifeline Of The West, Sees Historic Water Shortage Declaration (via NPR) | | Shared by Drew Slattery, human dimensions of change lead, Trust In Food: For the first time ever, the U.S. government declared a shortage on the Colorado River - which serves as a drinking water source to some 40 million people in multiple states and irrigates countless farms all while generating lots of cheap hydropower. This NPR interview breaks down what this declaration means, and where we go from here as our nation enters a new phase of its water crisis.
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| | Regenerative Agriculture: The Next Trend In Food Retailing (via Forbes) | | Shared by Nate Birt, vice president, Trust In Food: Although I'm not endorsing this author's somewhat narrow definition of regenerative agriculture, I'm sharing it as an example that this topic continues to build mainstream appeal. And it also points out, interestingly, that by the author's calculations, regenerative acreage goals set by food retailers could surpass organic acreage totals -- suggesting regenerative is indeed a real consumer food trend, and that farmer engagement will be exceptionally important if those goals are to be achieved.
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| | Opinion: The Social and Environmental Perils of Magical Thinking (via Undark) | | Shared by Drew Slattery, human dimensions of change lead, Trust In Food: This thought-provoking essay poses the question: what if we can’t just assume that the pandemic, the climate crisis, and other pressing societal issues will work out fine? The authors provide some hard-lesson insights as well as tips for motivating people to move off the sidelines and into the action.
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