News and Notes

 

The last couple of weeks have been BUSY for me!

On Nov. 19th, I was a panelist at Food Dialogues in Ames, IA.  “The panel discussion, “A Frank Discussion about Food” explored the varying opinions of farmers, ranchers and industry leaders to help answer questions consumers have about GMOs, local and organic foods, and everything in between. The discussion was moderated by award winning journalist John Bachman.”

If you follow Squaw Creek on facebook, you know that I was really nervous for this event.  I’m not afraid of public speaking, but I usually have a presentation I’m working from.  Food Dialogues was live and we took questions from the audience.  I didn’t really know what to expect.

So I focused on being “real” and talking about my farm.  I think it worked.  When I challenged one of the panelists’ definition of family farms, the audience burst into applause.  I never expected that, but I’m happy that my response had such an impact.

That portion of the event is available as an audio clip here.  The entire 90 minute discussion can be found here. 

Our farm was also featured on a couple of my favorite blogs.  Katie Pinke, from Pinke Post, wrote about me as part of her “30 Days of Women in Ag” series.  Click over to see my answers to her questions, like “When was the last time you tried something for the first time?” and “What children’s book describes your childhood/life?”

We were also featured on The Field Position.  Shannon did a great job rounding up some of my favorite blog posts for the holidays, and she included a turkey recipe, too.  Head on over and check it out!

Sara, another CommonGround volunteer, wrote a very nice blog post about our farm, as well.  She was thanking turkey farmers, but I’d like to thank her family as well- they raise beef cattle!

Finally, I’m working with a great group of bloggers on a new facebook page.  Straight from the Corn State: Iowa Bloggers is a group of “Rural Women with a Passion for Everything Iowa.” Give us a “like,” please!