Food, the Farmer Isn't the Problem

Today, I engaged in a friendly conversation with a couple of friends about the safety of the food we eat. More specifically we were discussing the hormones used in the production of livestock for meat and whether they had anything to do with the early onset of puberty in girls. Now I am not a scientist by any means but I do think I have a good grasp on this subject.

Let me first say that the food we raise on our farms is safe, the medicines we use and the feeds we give our animals have been tested and proven safe. The herbicides and fertilizers we use to grow the abundant food supply we all enjoy have bee tested and retested. We also adhere to strict withdrawal times to doubly insure that the food you serve on your dinner table is the safest in the world.

So if the food is safe coming off the farm, why is there a problem. Honestly, I think it is more of a lifestyle problem than a food problem. We all live such hectic lives that we rush from one thing to the next. We rely on processed foods and order from the drive through instead of going home and preparing food from the basic ingredients. We choose food based on the ease of preparation and not on nutrition.

This hectic lifestyle also leaves us without time to exercise. If we can't prepare food, we sure aren't going for a walk. The problem isn't with our food, it is with our schedule. It is a mixed blessing to have the awesome agriculture foundation that we have. The hardworking men and women on our farms produce so much food that most of us actually are suffering from eating too much of it.

The majority of this world don't have worry about whether their food is safe, they spend most of their time worrying about having enough. I am not sure, but my guess is that starvation kills far more than all other food related problems combined. That is why, we in agriculture, need to utilize all of the technology we can to feed our ever growing world population.

I am not sure what the answer is but this I do know. Your food is safe when it leaves my farm. I suspect that if we all took the time to properly wash and prepare our food from its raw ingredients many of the health concerns in our nation would be a thing of the past. Mix in a less stressful, less hectic lifestyle and more exercise and we would all be a lot healthier. Come to think of it that would make us more like the farmers and ranchers who raise our food.