You don't look like an ag major

I can't keep quiet in my ethics class, correction, I can't keep quiet anywhere. Every Tuesday and Thursday I shoot my hand up into the air to weigh in on all sorts of issues, from fairness to politics. Today after class the guy sitting next to me said, "You sure know a lot about different stuff, what's your major?" I had him fooled by my supposed knowledge, and shocked him further when I answered with agricultural journalism. His response wasn't surprising, "well you sure don't look like an ag major"


Dressed in a pink dress, zebra scarf, and black cardigan, I couldn't argue with him. I certainly didn't have on the East Campus Uniform of jeans, boots, and t-shirt. It got me to thinking about the people in my life I stereotype. That guy with thick glasses, flannel shirt, and tight jeans is either a lumberjack, or more likely a hipster. The gal in the bright t-shirt, leggings, and ugg boots has to belong to a sorority. I can't complain about stereotypes when I pigeonhole people myself.

I would like to be judged by what I do and say. That's what everybody in the agriculture sector should want. Sometimes, what we do or say can be negative or hurtful when we jump to conclusions about, "the idiots who are vegetarian", "those naive souls who want organic food", and "evil animal rights activists". It's ok to disagree with someone, and want that someone to be educated, but when we in Ag focus on slinging mud instead of educating the public, we lose our credibility.

Anyone who supports the elimination of animal agriculture will never get my support, nor will they earn my hatred. It is a serious matter, but one I plan to combat by telling and re-telling the positive stories like Debbie's and my own rather then throwing dirt. After all, I wouldn't want to get my dress dirty.

'till the cows come home,

Ellie

My Worthless Degree

The tools of my trade! 

Last Thursday an article appeared on the Yahoo! webpage entitled "College Majors That Are Useless." Right at the top of their list was agriculture.  The funny thing is that on most lists about less than desirable majors, journalism takes the top spot.  The most laughable matter though, was the explanation for agriculture's position. The author explained that because farms are consolidating, the need for farm managers was decreasing and would continue to do so, because everybody knows the only thing you can do with and Ag degree is manage a farm.

This isn't the first time I've had to defend my major.  When I was a junior in high school, I began contemplating what I wanted to do after graduation.  For the past two summers, I had worked on a publication at the National Jr. Angus Show entitled "The Scoop."  This was essentially a newspaper for the young people who were involved in showing cattle.  Through that experience, I began to consider agricultural journalism as a major.  When I chatted with my parents about it, they were less than enthused.  I didn't blame them, as realists, they wanted me to get an education that would lead to a viable career.  Their initial thoughts were that agricultural journalism was the college of agriculture's "study of ancient literature" degree.  It was great for passionate folks, but didn't hold much potential in the real world, unless paired with something they deemed more viable.  

That summer I set out to prove them wrong.  "The Scoop" staff met twice daily and at each meeting professionals in some typeof agriculture communications area spoke.  I brought out my notebook at each meeting and asked each guest the same question.  "Is the job field for agricultural journalism students growing?" Each one had a positive response.  While they cautioned that students needed to be flexible, they assured me that more opportunities were opening up as agriculture continued to grow.  Armed with this information, I headed back to my parents and convinced them that agriculture communications was not only my passion, but could be my career as well.

I study advertising/PR combined with agricultural journalism, not because I want to make a lot of money.  I'd venture to guess that's not why most people study anything ag related.  (Though there are stellar opportunities for people in the field).  Instead, I love the culture part of the word.  I love working among the people, and sharing the stories of the industry.  We feed the world, and there is nothing worthless about that.

'till the cows come home,

Ellie

Community is better than Veggies!

The people of Roseto, PA

First, I apologize for 2 serious blog posts in a row; I promise the next will be "lighter." After sitting in class today, I knew community was something I wanted to contemplate further. Media ethics was the name of the class, and the book that sparked discussion was "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.


In the introduction of the book he tells the tale of a village in Pennsylvania called Roseto. Essentially an Italian town transplanted over the years into the east coast countryside. In the 1950s, some doctors doing research on heart disease studied the residents. They discovered that the citizens of Roseto had no recorded deaths from heart attack...ever. No resident currently had high blood pressure or cholesterol. Their diets weren't particularly healthy considering they had blended traditional Italian with a lard based carb diet. There were no gyms in this rural town, and most of its residents struggled with obesity. Neighboring villages were closer to the national average so their water supply wasn't some healing stream. The only difference between Rosetta and any other town in America was the community. Most of the citizens saw not one or two neighbors every day, but 4 or 5. Every one attended Sunday morning mass, and there were high instances of extended families sharing a home. Essentially the people of Roseto, truly lived together, and so were healthier.

Now I'm not saying that having more friends means you can eat fast food for every meal, and sit on the couch all day. No, I simply marvel at the power of a close knit community. I don't believe we encourage that today in America. The focus is on the advancement of the individual, earn more money, be happier, gain more popularity are the messages. All of those focus on personal achievements and leave the value of building relationships secondary. Community is more than friendships, it's a group of people truly living among each other, sharing goals, achievements, and dreams (wow that just got hippie).

It's no surprise that community isn't rampant. It's hard, because people together means conflict, and conflict is something my generation is taught to avoid at all costs. Thus, it's easier to simply avoid a community than to deal with the icky messy conflicts that being close to people causes. After all, disagreeing with you is easier to do from a distance. This is where America can take a lesson from rural communities.

I see examples of small "Rosetos" in my involvement in agriculture. On a farm you can't avoid community. Many operations involve multiple generations, and the fact is, living in the country means you don't get to escape family conflicts by walking down the street to the mall. The farms attacked for involving large numbers of individuals are actually communities working toward the common goal of raising food. That's why ranches don't have or need gyms.

'till the cows come home,

Ellie

A Quiet Heart

My New Year's Resolution

In the many words that have been used to describe me, quiet is never a part of that list.  In 2012 I plan to change that.  Now I don't plan to abandon my talkative ways, but rather plan to take quiet to a deeper part of me.

For Christmas I received a book by Elisabeth Elliot called Keep A Quiet Heart.  Like her writing always does, she cuts straight to the no-nonsense part of a walk with God.  Her first devotion struck me right to the heart:

          Jesus slept on a pillow in the midst of a raging storm. How could He? The terrified disciples, sure that the next wave would send them straight to the bottom, shook Him awake with rebuke. How could He be so careless of their fate?
          He could because He slept in the calm assurance that His Father was in control. His was a quiet heart. We see Him move serenely through all the events of His life–when He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He knew that He would suffer many things and be killed in Jerusalem, He never deviated from His course. He had set His face like flint. He sat at supper with one who would deny Him and another who would betray Him, yet He was able to eat with them, willing even to wash their feet. Jesus in the unbroken intimacy of His Father’s love, kept a quiet heart.

This cut straight to one of my deepest struggles.  I'll admit I'm a complainer, and I often spend my time in prayer asking God to change something in my life or make it easier.  I'll worry and fret that I'm not doing enough to make my life the way I want.  So this year I plan (with an enormous amount of help from the Almighty) to make small changes toward a quiet heart.

          God came down and lived in this same world as a man. He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed-not into an angel or a storybook princess, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.
 
So pray for me along this journey, and may God bless you with a quiet heart as well.
'till the cows come home,
Ellie