Field to Fork, A Conversation
I grew up farming tropical fish in the tomato capital of Florida – Hillsborough County. I am part of the Baby-Boomer Generation, actually, I am at the tail-end of this generation and while I identify with some Boomer characteristics, I like to think I am part of the Pop Tart Generation! A generation that grew up on kitchen conveniences.
Boxed food, frozen blocks of vegetables, ham in a can, beans with weenies, and various other conveniences-chock full of preservatives. As a kid, when my mom drug me to the grocery store most of our time was spent in the middle aisles, even though we lived with vegetables growing all around us, boxed or canned food was convenient.
Convenience! Even if some boxes required additional food groups, like Hamburger Helper. While you could eat what’s in the box only, it was better if you added hamburger. Other boxes were all-in-one, even the dessert. On occasion, TV dinners like Swanson were served at my house. We bought into the commercials hook, line and sinker. Mom would pop them in the oven and dad, and I would sit on the couch with our folding tray in front of us watching Jeopardy waiting for mom to bring that “lava” hot tray of food.
Oh, and in the morning, I would wake up to Pillsbury Crescent Rolls filled with jelly or sugar-laden cereal like Sugar Smacks. No wonder that age 50 I suffered a near fatal heart attack. Convenience, what has it really got us? Consumers today are changing (for the better) the way we shop for groceries.
Would you know where all the ingredients in a box of Macaroni and Cheese came from? Would your first thought be a farmer or a laboratory? What if you pick up a tomato or blueberries, would you think of a laboratory? No, you think of the farmer and where it was grown. Now, think back to your last visit to the grocery store, show of hands, how many of you spent more time on the outer edge than in the middle aisles?
Because of increases in population and today’s more health-conscious consumer, farmers are producing more on less land. In the early 1900’s 38% of the workforce in America involved agriculture. Today, that number is less than 2%. Yet, in 1900 there were 76 million people in America, today there are over 320 million. The math alone tells you the American farmer is doing more (much more) with a lot less. How?
Technology is the driving force on today’s farm. Just like technology revolutionized the medical field, today it is doing the same for our soil. Farmers are using soil moisture sensors to tell them how much water to use and when to fertilize. They use on-farm weather stations to track and monitor rain fall and temperature allowing them to further save our most valuable resource – WATER.
They take soil, water and tissue samples and have them analyzed in labs across America helping them to better understand the health of the land they farm. Today’s farmers – farm the soil, not the plant. Once analyzed, the lab will send the farmer a prescription, an outline for where and how much fertilizer or even pesticide is needed. All to lessen their environmental footprint.
Even satellites are being used to monitor the health of the land. Taking images once a week during the growing season to monitor and track changes in the plant. This technology is helping the farmer use less fertilizer, less pesticides and more importantly, less – WATER.
With 7 billion people worldwide and expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, what will we do? How will we continue to feed a growing population with an ever-shrinking farming population? Technology! Farmers along with university researchers and companies like IBM, AT&T, Charter Communications, and many precision ag companies are all working together to ensure we can continue to DO MORE WITH LESS.
Finally, today’s consumers also want to know their food is SAFE and has been produced with a willing and healthy labor-force – RIGHT? Farmers are no different, they eat the same food we do, but it just might make it their table a little faster. From their Field to our Fork, farmers incorporate the latest food safety technology. They’ve developed protocols to monitor filed prep to transportation, all to ensure the food we eat is healthy and safe.
While many of today’s industries are using less manual labor, picking a tomato, blueberry, or bell pepper for the fresh market still requires people, a lot of people. Farmers want to ensure the consumer, the people that pick the food we place on our table are treated fairly and receive a fair and honest wage. It’s all about transparency, and today’s farmers want you to know how they grow your food. Thank you.
