Taking Discussions Offline

I recently logged onto Facebook to see that one of my Facebook friends had re-posted an anti-GMO picture.  It's not the first time I've seen something like that on social media, but I must have been having a bit of a bad day because it made me a bit angry.  I left it alone for a while and then replied that evening, once I'd cooled down a bit, arguing that GMOs are not evil.  A bit of mild debate ensued in the comments of the post, but my friend and I quickly decided to take the conversation off of the internet.  I think we both realised that this is a subject that is far too complex for a social media site.  Also, it's almost impossible to convey tone over the internet and we didn't want the conversation to get unnecessarily heated.

So, this evening I made a trip to town and visited this friend and her husband to continue the discussion.  It was a lot calmer than discussions about GMO, organic, and other food issues often are. We were quickly able to find some common ground and exchanged information that we each had gathered over the years.  We all learned something by the end and then spent a lot of time just visiting over ice cream.  It was much better than having a heated debate over the internet.

I am of the opinion that it is really important to keep learning, especially about things that concern or confuse us.  The intenet is an amazing resource.  There's so much information out there.  Unfortunately, there's too much information out there.  Many facts are half-truths or don't tell the whole story and the vast amount of facts is simply overwhelming.  Combine the overwhelming amount of information with the inability to communicate tone and intent over the internet, and a lot of discussions that should be calm degenerate into angry "shouting matches" liberally sprinkled with capital letters, italics, and emoticons.

Social media sites are great for keeping track of people and randomly connecting with friends we don't see a lot.  It's even good for spreading some types of information.  But sometimes we need to take the conversations off of the internet, sit down face-to-face, and just talk.  The discussion stays calm, gets more in depth, and is liberally sprinkled with beverages, ice cream, and "how's your family".  Now, isn't that better than getting all worked up over a misinterpreted comment on a Facebook post?

Educating Non-Farmers (Part 2)

I had a guest a while ago.  Sara came for a few days to learn more about farming.  She shadowed me as I worked, joined my parents and me on a county tour, helped me get some stuff done, and asked my dad and me lots of questions.

As I was preparing for Sara's visit, I expected to teach her how to do things, and I was wondering how I would give her a decent picture of agriculture in just a few days.  I'm not sure I did a good job of showing Sara what farming culture really is or explaining all of the different aspects of agriculture.

Sara was able to learn the little bit that she did in a number of different ways.  First, she shadowed my dad and me as we worked, helping us haul bales, build a fence, pump water, and do myriad other tasks.  Through these tasks, Sara not only learned how to do things I take for granted (who knew that some people don't know how to use a hammer), she also learned things about daily farm life that farmers just don't even think to talk about.  For example, she learned to think twice about giving the farm dog kisses after seeing firsthand the joy he takes in rolling in fresh manure.  She also experienced the sudden ferocity of an Alberta hailstorm that caught us off-guard as we were fencing one afternoon.

The second way that Sara learned was through conversation as we worked.  I don't think I've ever talked so much in just a few days.  I'm still not back to my normal level of sociability yet.  All that talking took a lot out of me.  Anyway, as we worked, we had lots of conversations about how and why we do things (like why we make round bales and others make square bales), farming culture and community, and agriculture's hot topics (organic agriculture, hormone use, antibiotics, marketing, etc.).  Sara asked some pretty good questions.  There were a lot of topics that we covered that I've wanted to write about in this blog, but the misinformation that is out there is so overwhelming that I have no idea where to start.  I wish more people would just ask a farmer, "So what do you think about _____?"  We all have a perspective that the rest of the world hasn't even thought of.  Of course, not all questions are so complex.  Sometimes it's okay to ask the small, even slightly silly questions, too.  Anything is acceptable, as long as you are learning.  Even "do you rake the hay by hand?" is an okay question.

Finally, Sara had the chance to learn about farming culture and agriculture in a unique, once-a-year way, as she joined us on the annual Ag Service Board County Tour in Barrhead County.  We spent all day crowded into buses full of old farmers (and a few young ones), checking out what's happening in the county, from how the county is dealing with the pocket gopher infestation, to a super-cool farm packed with all sorts of antique farm equipment, to the county's gravel pits.  In between the many stops we made, I explained some stuff about hay and silage to Sara, introduced her to a few of my distant (and close) relatives (I think that overwhelmed her), and we talked about how farmers dress in our community.  In all, it was a very educational day.

I'm hoping that Sara didn't get overwhelmed by all I threw at her.  She seemed to be doing okay.  And by the last day, she was even doing a pretty good job of using a hammer on that fence (we finally finished it Sara!!).  I'm not sure if I'll ever have the chance to be "shadowed" again, but I hope I can continue to teach non-farmers what agriculture and farming culture is all about.

Dad teaching Sara how to splice a wire.

(Note: I should mention that Sara did know how to use a hammer and her skills with the hammer improved quickly through the week.  She's certainly not the worst hammer-handler I've ever seen.)