This post first appeared on Chelsey Erdmann's blog, Oh That's Chelsey
What I wish consumers knew, really, truly understood about us as producers.
I wish you knew that all your food comes from families.
I wish you knew that we are all out providing essentially the same product in a different way.
I wish you knew we consider a multitude of factors when deciding how to run our operations.I wish you knew we all operate differently because our environments, circumstances, and opportunities vary.
We are agriculture. We are one entity providing you with a plethora of safe, affordable, and nutritious choices.
The labels you see aren't meant to divide us.
Organic crops can still be sprayed with chemicals. Many natural producers utilize antibiotics. All cattle eat grass and grain finished beef has forage in the ration.
Find one of the families that grows our food. Get to know them. Ask them why their processes and strategies work for them. Utilize the resources you have in your region.
Find a family, get to know them, see how you can trust them and let's all give thanks that more often than not, our biggest problem of the day isn't sourcing something to eat.
Chelsey Erdmann is the District 5 representative on the NDFB Promotion and Education Committee. She is a sixth generation farmer and rancher and is passionate about sharing agriculture's story.