Our Food, Our Farmers: Grades 10-12 Essay Winner

Our Food, Our Farmers Ag Essay Contest – 2011

Written Essay Winner: Grades 10-12

Morgan Williams, 12^th Grader at Rushville Consolidated High School

Teacher:  Blair Orme

“Food for Thought – Our Food, Our Farmers”

Indiana agriculture has influenced our lives in more ways than we realize. Without our farms, life as we know it today would cease to exist. Agriculture is essential to our lives. Farmers not only feed and provide us with clothing, but they also protect our environment and boost our economy. Farms keep our way of life going.

In recent years, agriculture has come to mean more than just farming the land and feeding our population. Farmers in Indiana and all across the nation constantly develop new ways to protect and preserve our environment. They discover new ways to preserve our soil and farm the land more efficiently. These days, agriculturalists help keep our food safe to eat, efficiently produce more products, and help our economy grow and prosper.

The safety of our food has become a debated issue within the United States. Agricultural research has developed new ways to farm the land efficiently without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Researchers have found ways to keep food safe, while still protecting our crops from harmful insects and other sorts of animals. Regulations on how much of each chemical can be used and how much can be used have been established. Also, we have seen an increase in organic food on grocery shelves. More consumers want to see their food grown in more natural ways, with fewer chemicals.

Agriculture has grown to be more efficient by discovering ways to plant more and harvest more. Nowadays, farms harvest a significantly larger amount of crops within a year. With more being produced, agriculture has stimulated our sinking economy. The food and other goods produced from our farmers are essentials that consumers buy, and this all keeps our economy going.

Agriculture affects our everyday lives in positive ways that we tend to overlook. We take our food, our clothing, and our farms for granted more often than we should. We need to remember that without farms and rural communities, life could not go on. Indiana agriculture improves our lives and helps make this world a better place for everyone.