by Carie Moore
March is a big month as farmers, ranchers and countless others are encouraged to share their contributions to agriculture.
We celebrate Ag Week, March 22-28 and National Ag Day on March 24. Ag Day is celebrated in Washington. D.C. by the Agriculture Council of America and other professional organizations. It helps make everyone aware of the impact agriculture has. It is both global and endless.
During the month of March, in addition to my educational visits to local schools, I will be contributing a four-part series on the impact of U.S. food production. This will include both food waste and food need. We will be discussing things you can do to help decrease the amount of food that is being discarded in our society today.
In the United States, our food choices have changed and expanded greatly over the past 20 years. New flavors, options, varieties, and tastes flood the market. This has led to an alarming amount of food getting thrown out due to overage or excess purchases, undesirable personal taste, or expiration before consumption. Food purchases are driven by labels, pricing, uniqueness, and media influences. It’s not as simple as going to the store for a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a stick of butter.
Despite the abundance, we have children and families who are struggling just to put a meal on the table. There are kids whose only nutritious – or any meal – comes from the school. Weekends, holidays, and summers they have no guarantee what or when their next meal will be.
Last May, I visited multiple classrooms and we talked about this very problem and what students can do to help in their own communities. Students were challenged to do at least one thing personally. When faced with the realization not all families in their towns and cities have the same options to purchase food as they do, they cared about making sure there were seconds for students instead of food being scraped off their lunch tray into the trash can.
“Food Brings Everyone to the Table,” is a great tag line for this year’s theme. We all see food as a way of fueling our bodies and brains, and as a social aspect which brings families and friends together.
We are lucky to live in a country with so many opportunities to feed our growing population. The first thing we need to do is be aware and thankful for that. We also need to make sure the hard work of farmers, ranchers, production and packers isn’t in vain or going to waste. Those in the ag industry work tirelessly day and night, year-round, to make safe and much needed food for our country and others. When food is wasted, that is money and time taken away from a family putting everything they have into producing it for your family. Farmers and ranchers are not about wasting time, so please don’t waste food!
Carie Moore is the District 4 representative on the NDFB Promotion and Education Committee. She is a mom and farms near Rocklake, N.D.