Fair Enough
Some county fairs have a unique opportunity to educate. Some of those opportunities happen when fairgoers buy a pork chop sandwich from the pork producers' tent, visit the miracle of life exhibit or walk into one of the livestock barns.
The Lake County Fair in Crown Point is one example of what I'm talking about. The fair operates on the edge of a large population center and draws people from urban and suburban areas. During my visit on Aug. 15, I noticed many families and couples who were simply walking around, checking out what the fair had to offer. Inside the dairy barn, the Lake County Farm Bureau was ready for those folks. They set up a trivia contest featuring questions about various agricultural commodities. When fairgoers visited all the stations, they returned to the starting point and earned a prize based on how many questions were answered correctly.
I have already shared about the miracle of life tent in Elkhart County. Kids who milk a cow receive a coupon for a free ice cream cone. If they visit at just the right time, they can watch a cow give birth. A local veterinarian is on hand to let visitors know what's happening. That's education at its finest.
The most important thing about such opportunities is that they get people thinking. If you can spark an interest with some creative activity, fairgoers might ask a question or two. Then you can have a conversation with them about local agriculture.
Will those conversations improve ag literacy? Will they move the needle in the direction of a better understanding of modern agriculture? Possibly.
But let me ask you this question: what's the risk of doing nothing? What happens when children grow up thinking that food comes from a grocery store, not a farm? I'll tell you what I think. When a farm is threatened by development, no one will stand in opposition. No one will grieve when prime farmland is paved over, and no one will oppose a ballot initiative, like California's Proposition 12, that dictates how farmers should raise hogs or poultry. No one will have anything to say when an animal rights activist portrays farmers as cruel to their animals.
Today's consumers are being targeted with false information, misleading advertising and propaganda. Someone needs to tell the truth. Modern agriculture needs informed consumers.
That brings me back to my original point. Next to parents educating their children in the home, county fairs offer the best opportunity to educate young people about modern farming. The farmers who volunteer their time at the Farm Bureau booth are doing a great service for agriculture. The same goes for the veterinarian who explains the birthing process. They are truth-tellers in a world of lies and falsehoods.