The Adventures of Alex: Risk Management Essay Contest

There are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to agriculture.

Chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Food comes from the grocery store. Farmers all look like Old McDonald.

In fact, only two percent of Americans actually live on a farm and are engaged in agricultural production. Ten agriculturalists and FFA members took a stab at beginning to educate the other 98 percent.

The 2010 Risk Management Essay Contest winners wanted to spread the word, bust some popular agricultural myths and tell “The Rest of the Story.” During their time in Washington, D.C., the 10 winners and their advisor or a parent met with top USDA officials and their congressmen, took a tour of the White House, explored Georgetown, visited the Monuments and discovered the history behind our nation’s Capitol firsthand.

Check out their myths and pass the real story on!

MYTH: Chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

BUSTED: Chocolate milk is chocolate syrup mixed in to white milk. (You don’t see any pink cows producing strawberry milk, do you?)
-David Walden, Durant Sr. FFA, Florida

MYTH: Beef is unhealthy and fattening.

BUSTED: Beef actually has 28 cuts of lean beef per cow. It also contains 10 essential vitamins and nutrients, gives you energy, and tastes GREAT! 
-Amanda Adcock, Hunt FFA, North Carolina


MYTH: Farmers harm and mistreat animals.

BUSTED: Actually most show animals are under fans, fed all they want, and washed and brushed everyday
-Emily Fanning, Laverne FFA, Oklahoma

MYTH: Farmers aren’t educated

BUSTED: It takes a lot to be a wheat farmer! You have to know about wheat diseases that could harm your crops and what chemicals to apply to kill those diseases.
-Zach Weichel, Cordell FFA, Oklahoma

MYTH: Farming is easy.

BUSTED: Actually there are a lot of steps/education required to farm. Farmers must plant, spray, and harvest at just the right times. Otherwise the crop and profits will suffer and farmers won’t make a very good living.
-Colton Hansen, Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca FFA, Nebraska

MYTH: Organic Farming is the best way to farm and produce grain in the world.

BUSTED: American farmers have and will continue to grow conventional crops. These methods have proved to be the most stable and sustainable mode of crop production in the world. Organic Farming might be useful for specialty products. But in reality, it is not going to feed the world!
-Denton Lowe, Amber-Pocasset FFA, Oklahoma

MYTH: Food comes from the grocery store.

BUSTED: There are acres of open fields used to grow produce and meat. Just go down the country side and you will see another perspective of where food comes from.
-Keith Mentnech, Croatan FFA, North Carolina

MYTH: FFA is just plows, cows, and sows.

BUSTED: There’s more to FFA than livestock and plants/crops. There’re lots of opportunities for leadership development, conferences and contests. Plus there’s plenty of money available for scholarships.
-Jordan Hieber, Ubly FFA, Michigan

MYTH: Agriculture isn’t necessary for survival.

BUSTED: We need agriculture for clothes, food, and other everyday necessities. Without agriculture, life wouldn’t be possible. We need agriculture for almost everything in life.
-Abbey Nickel, Mount Vernon FFA, Ohio

MYTH: FFA is just a high school activity. People don’t use it in life.

BUSTED: The things students learn in high school agriculture education classes can help them throughout their lives. Students learn leadership skills, time management, and how to work with other people. FFA skills are used everywhere, all the time!
-Katie Brown, Grapeland FFA, Grapeland, TX

Interested in a free trip to Washington, D.C.?! Want to meet the Secretary of Agriculture one-on-one? Wonder what your congressman/woman is up to?

Then learn more about the Risk Management Essay Contest sponsored by the USDA! Click here for more information http://www.ffa.org/index.cfm?method=c_programs.RiskManagement

To see more pictures from the trip, check out my Facebook page!