What We're Doing

I have been asked by the Illinois Farm Families organization to write three blogs for them to post on their website. I have chosen to write about the grocery store visit, the spring corn/soybean planting tour, and one "mom's choice" that I'll write in November. The "mom's choice" topic can be anything we are interested in. I don't know what my topic will be yet.

The reason for this program is to bring knowledge about farming back into urban conversation. Most people are at least two generations removed from farming. They hope that we will share what we've learned with family and friends and the groups that we belong to, such as our children's schools or PTO, our church groups, and our neighbors.

This opportunity to go to the farm and talk to real farmers and get my questions - and yours - answered is a unique opportunity. If you are reading this and have a question that you would like me to ask a farmer, please send it to me and I will do my best to get your question answered.

I plan to use this blog to share what I'm learning through my own research, as well as, reporting on what I've learned at the farm tours. This blog will follow the duration of this 2014 "Field Mom" program. When the program ends in December, so shall the blog!

I don't think there is one right food path for everyone. As a family, we make choices about the food we buy and we have a comfort level with those choices. My opinion, by the nature of a blog post (or journal entry), will come across in my posts, but it is not my mission to be persuasive. There are a lot of books, online articles, documentaries, and other forms of media that do plenty of that; some of which, I will be reading and watching as part of my research. I'm open-minded and will listen to a wide variety of voices. I may share some of that, as well, along the way.