Welcome back to ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’

The part blog/part podcast series where we meet, and get to know Farmers from all across the Nation.  We learn about the foods they grow, and the connection to the products we put on our tables.

We want you to get to know, and trust, your farmer.

Make sure to connect with us & join the conversations happening with the #meetmyfarmer hashtag over on
Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest: @farverfarms
and on Facebook: facebook.com/farverfarms

Terry is the brains, brawn & green thumb behind everything that goes on here at Farver Farms.  You’ve read about him in the blog posts, and today, you’ll hear from him in person.  I hope you’ll be listening closely…. I have an idea this is a one-time cameo appearance!

If you’ll remember, each episode of ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’, features a Food Host. They help make the connection between the food the farmers produce, and the products that consumers eat.

Dot’s Pretzels contain enriched wheat flour.  Flour made from wheat,… just like the kind grown by our producer this week, Terry Farver….. but also by Dot’s Henke’s own husband & son on their farm!

These baked pretzels have a truly unique flavor, thanks to Dot’s secret recipe.  And what started as simply a family favorite snack, has turned into an all out enterprise.  Our own family tried them for the first time just recently,.. and you can bet they’ll be a staple in our cupboard from now on!

Baked in the certified kitchen at the local hometown grocery store in Velva, North Dakota, Dot says her product is a way to share a family food tradition with others.

Dot’s Pretzels are now sold at retail locations across the nation.  But don’t worry, it they’re not sold in a store near you, you can order them directly from their website at www.dotspretzels.com.

And, if you’ve been following along, you’ll know that our Food Hosts always generously donate product for our readers & listeners.

Today is no different.  Simply leave a comment on this blog post  & you’ll automatically be entered in a random drawing for Two 2# packages of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels!

We’ll be choosing a winner randomly Monday evening from those who leave a comment here on this blog post so make sure you do that right away.

our very own, Terry Farver.   Just push play below to hear from Terry! (The actual interview starts about 2 1/2 minutes in)

It’s easy to hear the pride in Terry’s voice when he talks about the history & the heritage of his farm, but also when he talks about the pride in growing a clean, safe product. 

“I wouldn’t expect anybody else to eat something that I wouldn’t eat.  …  That’s a big deal for most farmers.  They take pride in doing a good job.” 

If you have more questions for Terry, you can find him right here at Farver Farms.  Leave your questions here on the blog post, on any of our social media accounts, or send an email to shauna@farverfarms.com.  I’ll see that Terry gets them & replies to your questions or comments.

And remember, this week our Food Host, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels is giving away Two 2# packages of pretzels to a lucky listener or reader. All you have to do is leave a comment below to be automatically be entered in the drawing.

If you’d like to connect with Dot or learn more about her famous pretzels, you can find her on the website at dotspretzels.com or over on the Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels Page at Facebook.com/DotsHomestylePretzels.  Give them a shout out & let them know you heard about them here.

That’s all for today. As always, thank you for reading & listening.  I hope you enjoyed meeting ‘my’ Farmer today & making the farm/food connection.

I’ll see you soon on The Farm! -Shauna

Hello!  And Welcome to ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’

The blog series where we meet Farmers from all over the Nation, talk about the food they grow, & find out just how much we might actually all have in common!

We want you to get to know, & trust, your farmer.

Make sure to connect with us & join the conversations happening with the #meetmyfarmer hashtag over on
Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest: @farverfarms
and on Facebook: facebook.com/farverfarms

Our grower for this episode is Chet Hill.

Chet is currently the Agricultural Extension Specialist, specializing in Agricultural Diversification at the North Dakota State University Research Extension Center.

The Center is an 800-acre rain-fed farm located in northwest North Dakota near the city of Williston. And as their website states, the research they do there, “is intended to increase the producer’s net profit, support crop diversification, and encourage more intensive cropping and irrigation development.”

The irrigation research farm at Nesson Valley about 25 miles East of Williston, where 3 – 40 acre linear sprinklers were developed, is raising potatoes and sugar beets as a cash crop.

They work closely with their neighboring producer to harvest crops. And the entire team at the Research Center works together to promote & support the ag industry…& to grow the potatoes for our Food Host in this episode.

It’s a very unique relationship that supports the goals of both the Center and our Food Host….& you’ll hear more about how well that’s working in our interview with Chet.

I already mentioned our Food Host, & as you know, each episode of ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’, features a Food Host. They help make the connection between the food the farmers produce, and the products that consumers eat.

The Food Host is either a product that’s made from the type of food the farmer from that episode grows, or a store where you’ll find the kinds of products made from the food our farmer grows.

And the exciting part,… the Food Host for each post will be giving away food products or gift certificates to one of our readers or listeners!

All you have to do is listen to the interview, & leave a comment on the blog, letting us know what you learned, or your favorite part of the interview. When you do, you’ll automatically be entered in a random drawing for whatever the food host giveaway is for that post.

For today’s post, our Food Host is Granrud’s Lefse.

For those of you who are unaware of Lefse, let me tell you, you’re missing out! Lefse is a traditional Norwegian delicacy, a soft flatbread, if you will, made from.. potatoes.

It takes special equipment, & special skill to make lefse, & Granrud’s Lefse has been honoring that tradition, making the finest lefse around for over 30 years! Just ask my family,… it’s on the table for every holiday!

You’ll find them at retail locations throughout Eastern Montana & Western North Dakota, & you can purchase directly online– & get a lefse education—at www.lefseshack.com   You can also connect with Granrud’s Lefse at facebook.com/GranrudsLefseShack

Granrud’s will be shipping out two packages of their delicious lefse, just in time for Easter, to one of our readers or listeners.

We’ll be choosing a winner randomly Monday evening from those who leave a comment here on this blog post so make sure you do that right away!

Let’s go ahead & hear from Chet right now…just push play below to get started! (The actual interview starts about 3 1/2 minutes in)

I think Chet really hit the nail on the head when he talked about food choices, & there being enough room, literally at the table, for all the choices we have as consumers. And I just want to thank Chet again for taking the time to spend with us today.

If you have more questions for Chet or would like to learn more about the Extension Center, you can find them online at:  www.ag.ndsu.edu/WillistonREC
or on Facebook at facebook.com/WillistonResearchExtensionCenter

Remember, this week our Food Host, Granrud’s Lefse is giving away two packages of lefse to a lucky listener or reader. Leave a comment below, letting us know what you learned in our interview with Chet, and you’ll automatically be entered in the drawing.

That’s all for today. Thanks so much for joining us,.. & make sure you join us again next week for another #meetmyfarmer edition of ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’.

I’ll see you soon on The Farm! -Shauna

Our $50 Cash Giveaway Winner, sponsored by Farver Farms, is:

Cora Mae

Congratulations Cora Mae!  We hope you use your prize to purchase your favorite foods.  American Agriculture provides you with the safest, most abundant, least expensive food in the world.  Purchase it with confidence & enjoy what you eat!  Please contact shauna@farverfarms.com to claim your prize.

Hello, & Welcome to ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’

The blog series where we meet Farmers from all over the Nation, talk about the food they grow, & find out how just how much we might actually all have in common!

We want you to get to know, & trust, your farmer.

Make sure to connect with us & join the conversations happening with the #meetmyfarmer hashtag over on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest:  @farverfarms

and on Facebook: facebook.com/farverfarms

I’m so excited, because today, we’re talking with Emily Best, an apprentice farmer from New Morning Farm in Central Pennsylvania, & her farming situation is so unique, I can’t wait for you to hear about it!

But first, let me explain just a little about how this series works.

Each episode of ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’, will feature a food host.  A product, company, or store that supplies you with your food, and ties in with the farmer we’re interviewing in that episode.

The farmers grow it… our food hosts are where you’ll find it.

Here’s the exciting part,… the food host for each post will be giving away food products or gift certificates to one of our readers!

All you have to do is listen to the interview, & leave a comment on the blog, letting us know what you learned, or your favorite part of the interview.  When you do, you’ll automatically be entered in a random drawing for whatever the food host giveaway is for that post.

For our inaugural edition, this week’s food host is… us, Farver Farms!  And we’re giving away $50 in cold, hard cash!

We want you to go out & purchase your favorite food.  Whether that’s from a farm stand, a farmers market, a specialty store, or your local grocery store.  American Agriculture provides you with the safest, most abundant, least expensive food in the world.  Purchase it with confidence & enjoy what you eat!

We’ll be choosing a winner randomly on Monday from those who leave a comment, so don’t forget to do that—you could win $50 cash!

All right,  let’s get started… just push play below to hear my interview with Emily!  (The actual interview starts about 2 minutes in)

I hope you were able to listen to the entire interview with Emily Best from New Morning Farm. She’s such a forward thinker, & so passionate about food production!  I loved her thoughts about farming mindfully, and creating conversations about farming and farming practices.  And I hope you found you have something in common with her as well.  Emily is your farmer!

If you have more questions for Emily & would like to connect with her, you can find her here:
Twitter:  @Emilycgb or @NewMorningFarm
or at   www.panewfarmers.com

And remember, this week we’re giving away $50 for you to purchase your favorite food!  Leave a comment below, letting us know what you learned in our interview with Emily, and you’ll be entered in the drawing for a $50 in cold, hard, cash!

That’s all for today. Thanks so much for joining us,.. & make sure you join us next week for another #meetmyfarmer edition of ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’.

I’ll see you soon on The Farm!  -Shauna

But recently, I’ve had friends asking whether I have an opinion about all the hot-topic debate surrounding GMOs.

I do.  Of course I do.  If you’re an ag producer, you have an opinion about GM crops.  And fertilizer.  And pesticides.  And, and, and…

Tweet This

To be certain, we’re not the only ones with opinions on those topics.  Everyone has one.

And while I’ve mostly stayed out of the social media conversations about GMOs & some of the other topics du jour, (largely because they often turn into mud slinging insult fests that tear down communication more than they disperse information), I’m going to weigh in today.

I participated in a Tweet Chat last night about Millenials in Agriculture.  For those of you not familiar with a Tweet Chat, it’s a live conversation via social media centered around a certain topic.  Everyone participates uses the same hash tag, so that everyone else can see their comments.  They’re fast moving, and a fantastic way to connect with folks around the globe.

Last night was #agchat.  And it made me equally hopeful about the future of agriculture, and frustrated about the perception of the industry our kids are inheriting.

I was gleefully impressed with the Millenials participating in the conversation,… with their thoughtful answers, their willingness to learn as well as respectfully share their own knowledge & innovation, & their commitment to agriculture.

Here’s where the frustration came.  One of the questions asked this:  What is the most difficult part of agvocating for Millennials?

Several responded that the most difficulty lies in dispelling some of the misinformation out there surrounding ag.  And even more than that, fending off anti-ag propaganda.

Think about this.  If our best & brightest, the future of food in our World, have to spend an increasing amount of their time defending themselves & their industry from uneducated hate mongers, that means they’re spending less time on actually producing food.  Folks, that’s not a good scenario for the estimated 9 billion mouths we’ll need to be feeding by 2050.

There’s a saying:  If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

Today, we’re committing to being part of the solution.  That starts with being clear about where we stand.

This article sums up our thoughts here on the Farm, about the issue of GMO vs organic crops.  It’s well researched & well written, and says better than we could how we feel.

“So what are the facts? Organically grown food is not more healthful than conventionally grown food. Plants don’t care whether their nitrogen comes from manure or a sack of fertilizer. Organic produce is more expensive because organic farming is less productive than conventional farming. Nor is it sustainable on a global scale. Indeed, if the whole world relied on organic farming, we could feed about half of today’s 7 billion people.”

Don’t get us wrong.  We’re absolutely pro-food choice.  If a consumer chooses organic foods, or chooses to purchase their food directly from a farmer or at a farmers market, we support that choice.  But the fact remains, we can’t feed the World using that model.

God willing, as they become the next generation of our world’s food providers, Millenials and our own Prairie kids will be part of the ongoing discussion about the advancement of ag production practices that we’ll need to feed the increasing population.

We want to play a part in leaving them an intellectual, problem solving, global conversation that includes everyone in the food supply system, from producers to consumers, rather than a constant defensive justification against a one-sided diatribe from the uneducated.

And we truly believe that education will play a key part in these dialogues.  But we’d be remiss if we naively assumed that emotion wouldn’t also be front and center.

Farmers are emotional when they discuss their livelihood, their generational legacy.  Consumers are emotional when they discuss the food they use to nourish their bodies.  And those are both good things.  It means there’s a high level of investment & dedication on both sides.

They key, is to humanize those emotions.  It’s far more difficult to fling insults at a friend than a faceless, nameless social media icon.  And it’s far easier to reach for understanding with a real person than a perception of a giant, evil corporate empire.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be launching a new Blog series at Farver Farms called ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’

We’re going to be talking with Farmers from around the Nation, putting personal stories & real faces on production agriculture.  We’re going to make connections between individual farmers & the food products that consumers buy on the shelves every day.  And we’re going to shed some light on the gate to plate process.

Each of the posts in this series will include an interview with an ag producer.  We’ll include the blogged version, but also the audio to the actual interview, because human voices can sometimes make a greater personal connection than words on a page.  In fact, here’s the audio version of today’s post:

Each post will also include a direct connection to the consumer food choices that coincide with the farmer or rancher we’re interviewing.  For example, if we interview a farmer who produces wheat that goes into the general food supply, we’ll talk about a product consumers commonly find on the shelves of local grocery stores.  Say, bread.  And we’ll be hosting a giveaway for our readers that matches with the topic for the day.

Finally, each post will be sponsored by the folks in the middle– the ones who make the gate to plate connections.  The shippers, process, & distributors who truly make the food supply system work.  And you’ll hear a little bit about their stories as well.

Our hope, is to make a direct, personal connection between food producers & food consumers, because knowledge is power.

When consumers can see ‘who’ is producing their food– the real person, who’s not unlike themselves– and that these real people are feeding their own families the same food they’re asking consumers to eat, … it eliminates fear.  It creates a foundation for learning & understanding.  And it serves as a starting point for a combined effort, across the board, to sustainably feed our World.

Watch for our new Blog series, ‘Where Does My Food Come From?’ debuting right here at FarverFarms.com in the the next few weeks, and….

I’ll see you soon on the Farm!  -Shauna