Taking Farm Visits to the Next Level

I am just like you, City Mom. 

I work a full-time job and have two wonderful daughters in elementary school. I am a Girl Scout leader, a menu planner and a recipe experimenter.  I volunteer for the kids’ school and I try to have a life of my own and work out once in a while, but mostly, like you, my number one concern is my kids, their health and their happiness.  

When I can, I get my kids away from the traffic, and the cars, and the concrete and we visit forests and parks and rural areas.  We love going to pick apples, berries, and pumpkins.  I love being on the farms and fantasize with regularity what it would be like to live out there, with the land and the air and the trees. What would it be like? 

Then, miraculously, I saw a link to the Illinois Farm Bureau’s program for City Moms. The program allows a group of moms from the city and suburbs unparalleled and unprecedented access to working, family farms in Illinois. The program only asks that you commit to it and write about your experiences. I immediately applied – what an opportunity. 

This is a level up from apple picking, I can tell you that.  It is behind the scenes, no holds barred all access to an industry that has very strict guidelines on visiting. (This is all for the health of our food supply, I can assure you right now and not because of any dark secrets). 

 I have no regrets. I have been able to ask hard questions about animal welfare, husbandry, bees, GMO, crop cycles, weather, food of the persons directly involved. I have seen a farmer emotionally moved about the loss of an infant pig. I have seen a farmer plea with us to understand that science is not our enemy.  I got to hold a baby pig and watch the bloom of a soybean. 

Has my mind been changed about hot button topics? Not entirely. But I will tell you that it has been informed and transformed thanks to this wonderful opportunity.  My curiosity is still searching for answers, but I know more than I ever would have without this program. 

Guess what City Mom – YOU too can have this opportunity. Now is the time to apply for the 2015 City Mom program.  Simply visit http://www.watchusgrow.org/about-us/tour-our-farms and apply. It is the chance and experience of a lifetime. 

 

If you are curious about farming – you should do this. 

If you have burning questions about food production – you should do this. 

If you have doubts about the safety of the animals you eat – you should do this. 

If you want to learn – you should do this. 

If you want to meet some of the most wonderful people you would never otherwise meet – you should do this. 

If you want to ask me any questions about my experience, feel free to comment below and I will respond with honesty.  

Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I would do it all over again!