The Importance of Food

I am absolutely convinced that we don’t know how good we have it right here in the good old United States of America. Sure, we have our problems and they seem to be getting louder and more visible all the time but the fact of the matter is that we are living in the greatest nation with the highest standard of living in the world. Often, we forget this and act like spoiled children who only want things our way.

OK, I know that highest standard of living does not apply to everyone. In fact, as I look at food insecurity I am amazed at how many people, even in our small rural communities, are wondering where their next meal will come from. That is why the debate about how our food is grown and how we utilize technology in agriculture drives me crazy. When was the last time you saw a person who is food insecure complain about how their food was produced? I will give you the answer, never.

The debate about the use of technology in the production of food or even how we raise our livestock is a first world problem. Dr. Dan Thomson, Kansas State, said it best when he stated that only two types of people worry about food. The rich who worry about how it was produced and the poor who wonder where their next meal is coming from. Sadly, enough the rich get too much of the attention and the poor too little.

Here is the truth and what should be the final statement about how food is produced in the United States. Farmers and ranchers care about consumers, their livestock and the world around them. We utilize the best in new technology to produce the safest, most nutritious and, most importantly, the most abundant food supply in the world. We produce more food while utilizing fewer inputs on less farm land. Still we are criticized for utilizing modern improvements by uninformed, misguided so-called experts.

Am I being a little harsh in my judgment of people who are critical of my use of things like gmo crops and livestock antibiotics. I don’t think so. These self-centered people would have us reverting to producing food the same way we did in the fifties or earlier. This would dramatically raise the price of food and lower the supply. Probably not a big deal if you are in a higher tax bracket and can afford to pay more. So, what about the single mother with two kids and two jobs? Apparently, she does not factor into their equation.

I will consider taking my profession back fifty or one hundred years when they do the same with their chosen occupation. When they start driving Studebaker cars and living without air conditioning, internet and cable television, we can start talking about raising livestock without modern veterinary medicine and crops without technology. I certainly do not want to go to a doctor who practices medicine from the first half of the last century so why do we want to grow our food that way too?

The simple answer is that the so-called activist and the misguide members of the public who fall prey to their propaganda are only thinking of themselves. They have no idea what it is like to worry about where your next meal is coming from or how you are going to pay all your bills on a limited income. They only care about themselves and their perception of the world, which often does not include the less fortunate. If it did, they would be all for our use of the best production methods and the newest technology.

Am I saying they are bad people? No, misguided and selfish but not bad. Am I condemning alternate food production methods? Absolutely not, I will not tell another farmer or rancher how to conduct their business or a consumer what they can or cannot buy. However, I expect the same courtesy from fellow farmers and ranchers and a level of common sense from the consumer. We need modern technology in agriculture just like we need modern technology in all other businesses, without it, we will fail.

Those of us in agriculture have the daunting task of producing more food than we have ever produced with fewer acres and a call for using less inputs. Simply put, we cannot meet this challenge without the best and newest tools in our tool box. That also means those who are fortunate enough to have enough need to spend their time doing some research, checking out credible sources and understanding where their food comes from.

Food insecurity is a very real problem both close to home and in other corners of the world. It is a problem that will never go away but one that we can work to make better. I have faith that the farmers and ranchers of the United States can and will increase production, if we are allowed too and there in lies the challenge.