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- Keep Farming Strong, Never Lose ‘The Wave’
- By Matt McCallum
Publisher
- I’ll never forget the day when I got a call from an old high school buddy of mine. He told me one of my favorite high school teachers had gone ballistic and opened fire with a handgun, killing the superintendent and wounding three other teachers.
I had been out of school for about 10 years and couldn’t imagine how this person could have gone from one of the best, most laid back teachers to a cold-blooded killer. I didn’t think human beings could be so evil and didn’t think I’d ever hear of anything worse the rest of my life.
Well, I was obviously wrong. School killings have become commonplace and now a group of terrorists are using our own system to kill innocent U.S. citizens and disrupt our way of life.
The more I thought about the situation, the more I came to the conclusion that the only way our country can continue to be strong is through continuing our farming heritage.
Farmers have always had this unwritten code about being neighborly. Some of my cousins who grew up in the city would come to the farm in the summer. As our parents drove around people would wave to each other - and my city slicker cousins would laugh and make fun of them. I thought it was a nice gesture and was embarrassed by their comments.
“The wave” represented something much bigger than they ever could imagine.
If there was any tragedy in the farming community, everyone dropped what they were doing and gave whatever help they could - no questions asked. We experienced a large tornado at the farm when I was young, and I will never forget going out with my father and grandfather to clear the roads of trees and make sure all of the neighbors were all right.
It was like a hill of ants had just been kicked over. People seemed to come out of nowhere to help fix roofs, pull trees off of cars and bring food to those who lost power for several days.
The community also had a strong church, which helped keep everyone linked in a common faith.
With all the tragedy of the last few months, it makes me sad to think about the future of farming communities. Farmers are telling their children there is no future in ag - “go to the city and get a job.” Farming operations are getting a larger more corporate feel.
Farmers must change to be successful, but it’s sad that we might lose “the wave” mentality. We are losing what built this country. We are losing what can keep this country together and strong.
I just hope that from all of these tragedies U.S. agriculture can somehow stop its erosion. We must keep farming in the United States strong not only so we can control our food supply, but also so we never lose “the wave.”
Matt McCallum is publisher of The Vegetable Growers News. Please e-mail your comments to him at email.
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