[Music]
[Applause]
though we live in a world riddled with
problems the solutions remain
embarrassingly simple today instead of
focusing our efforts on uprooting the
problem let us rather turn our energy
towards supplanting the solution this is
where I’m from
the magic Valley of Southern Idaho we
are the epitome of modern day
agriculture within our Valley you’ll
find the largest sugar beet factories in
the world a ratio of four-to-one dairy
cows to people and hundreds upon
thousands of tractor farm acres
agriculture is pretty big here in fact
one might say we are outstanding in the
field when it comes to agriculture it’s
the reason why I’m here speaking to you
today and it’s the reason why people are
here in this valley in the first place
our valleys roots are quite literally
and figuratively tied to the history of
our success in food and farming today
one out of every four working people in
our Valley is directly employed by a
farm or other agricultural business
myself and my family happen to be some
of those people starting with one of my
grandpa’s he immigrated to the United
States from Holland when he was 18 years
old and with milking cows already in his
blood he eventually found his way to
southern Idaho it was here in the 1980s
that he began a successful career in the
dairy industry later on when my parents
started our family they decided that it
would be best to get into the dairy
industry as well so they followed in the
footsteps of my Dutch grandpa now I’m
here I’m an adult
and I’m of age to follow in both of
their footsteps but I find myself at a
bit of a crossroads
here’s the thing I’ve been surrounded by
farming for as long as I can remember
and as I was raised here in this valley
I have developed a passion for
agriculture I’ve come to love the story
behind food how food is a universal
language spoken by all people in that no
matter your race gender or faith at the
end of the day we can all find ourselves
communally gathered around food the
reason I find myself at a crossroads is
that I think our food and farming system
is due for an upgrade
a restoration of what was once so
commonplace a purely local food and
farming system a communal sense and
status of Agriculture where people
actually know the face behind their
families food I find it so odd that
people pour their time money and energy
into finding a family doctor or a family
dentist but what about the family farmer
we don’t go to the doctor or visit the
dentist three times a day but we do feed
ourselves and our children three times a
day
our foods roots are the foundation to
our family’s health
so perhaps knowing the farmer behind
that food is equally as important
regardless what I’m passionate about and
what our communities need now more than
ever is to facilitate engage and create
a food and farming system that is local
fresh and opens up the opportunities for
people to get to know the farmers behind
their families food the family farmer
but that what I’m suggesting people
often dismiss as unrealistic an
economical non inclusive and something
that just won’t feed the world you know
what I don’t like it one bit when people
bring that last bit up the whole spiel
on feeding the world the idea that it’s
my job that it’s the magic valley’s job
to feed the world that whole belief in
argument leaves a bad taste in my mouth
not because we already produce enough
today to feed the world twice over that
we collectively throw away 45% of all
edible food into the garbage or that the
root of global food insecurity is not
production but distribution no I don’t
like that idea because it has determined
the foundation and justification for
modern-day agriculture the logic usually
goes if we can grow more food more
cheaply more quickly than ever before
what’s the big deal
what could possibly be so terrible doing
that what’s terrible and what hurts our
farmers and our families is that in this
food system only 15 cents of every $1
spent goes back to the farmer which
means when you buy industrial produce
processed food the farmer isn’t
receiving much of a paycheck unless
they’re producing massive quantities of
food product our food travels 1,500
miles on average before it reaches your
plates which means burning more fossil
fuels less nutritious food more chance
of contamination and simply food that
isn’t fresh and only 5% of the final
food sale stays in the local economy but
let’s take a step back I didn’t come
here today just to expose modern
agriculture make you second-guess the
lunch you had today see the the thing is
I’m still passionate about agriculture
and I’m convinced that localized
agriculture will offer us a far better
future of food and farming the reason I
look to a local food and farming system
is that in contrast to what I just
shared in a local food system 45 cents
of every $1 spent goes back to the
farmer our food travels 150 miles on
average before it reaches our plate and
more than 40% of the final food sale
stays in the local economy talk about
local and talk about fresh but more than
all of these statistics and things to
talk about and consider if we are to be
the change in the world that we wish
see then we must follow in passion
desire with tangible action and I’ve
done just that with the help of friends
and family in my community at 19 years
old I’ve rediscovered something of a
solution it’s a fusion of the farmers
market and the convenience of home
delivery what I do is find as many local
farmers and producers as possible but
there meets greens dairies eggs potatoes
tomatoes breads and whatever it be up
onto a website I’ve created people can
hop onto that website order exactly what
their local food heart desires and voila
the following week fresh local food is
delivered directly to their doorstep in
a nutshell I found the intersection of
freaky fresh foods and clever customer
convenience I’m one guy doing something
about the future of our food and farming
it’s a battle for sure but the uphill
climb to a brighter future of food and
farming isn’t impossible we can all
participate all we have to do is
understand this the way we spend our
dollars shapes the kind of world we live
in
thus every food decision you make
whether it be at a grocery store
restaurant or farmers market is a real
tangible vote forming what kind of
future we intend to have what we eat is
what we’re voting to support so here’s
how you can vote local while you’re at
the grocery store look for seals like
the by Idaho seal or wherever your phone
find seals that indicate the food
product is grown locally or within the
state while you’re at a restaurant if
it’s not already on the menu ask where
your food is coming from if it’s local
be sure to let the chef know you
appreciate that if it isn’t local
encourage the restaurant to consider
buying local and lastly go to farmers
markets find stores selling local and
just in general support local businesses
we can all participate
the path towards a brighter future of
food and farming it can be as simple as
voting with your food choices two things
as complex is starting a business to
facilitate the movement of local food
it’s up to us in our grassroots food
votes to decide what the future of food
will look like we cannot allow our
history to be written by corporations
driven by greed or governments that lack
thought of tomorrow this isn’t a matter
of human nature either we must fulfill
the binomial nomenclature of wise man
and wise enough so walk away today
empowered with the knowledge the
conscience and the capacity to
grassroots vote for our farmers our families and our food thank you
[Applause]
though we live in a world riddled with
problems the solutions remain
embarrassingly simple today instead of
focusing our efforts on uprooting the
problem let us rather turn our energy
towards supplanting the solution this is
where I’m from
the magic Valley of Southern Idaho we
are the epitome of modern day
agriculture within our Valley you’ll
find the largest sugar beet factories in
the world a ratio of four-to-one dairy
cows to people and hundreds upon
thousands of tractor farm acres
agriculture is pretty big here in fact
one might say we are outstanding in the
field when it comes to agriculture it’s
the reason why I’m here speaking to you
today and it’s the reason why people are
here in this valley in the first place
our valleys roots are quite literally
and figuratively tied to the history of
our success in food and farming today
one out of every four working people in
our Valley is directly employed by a
farm or other agricultural business
myself and my family happen to be some
of those people starting with one of my
grandpa’s he immigrated to the United
States from Holland when he was 18 years
old and with milking cows already in his
blood he eventually found his way to
southern Idaho it was here in the 1980s
that he began a successful career in the
dairy industry later on when my parents
started our family they decided that it
would be best to get into the dairy
industry as well so they followed in the
footsteps of my Dutch grandpa now I’m
here I’m an adult
and I’m of age to follow in both of
their footsteps but I find myself at a
bit of a crossroads
here’s the thing I’ve been surrounded by
farming for as long as I can remember
and as I was raised here in this valley
I have developed a passion for
agriculture I’ve come to love the story
behind food how food is a universal
language spoken by all people in that no
matter your race gender or faith at the
end of the day we can all find ourselves
communally gathered around food the
reason I find myself at a crossroads is
that I think our food and farming system
is due for an upgrade
a restoration of what was once so
commonplace a purely local food and
farming system a communal sense and
status of Agriculture where people
actually know the face behind their
families food I find it so odd that
people pour their time money and energy
into finding a family doctor or a family
dentist but what about the family farmer
we don’t go to the doctor or visit the
dentist three times a day but we do feed
ourselves and our children three times a
day
our foods roots are the foundation to
our family’s health
so perhaps knowing the farmer behind
that food is equally as important
regardless what I’m passionate about and
what our communities need now more than
ever is to facilitate engage and create
a food and farming system that is local
fresh and opens up the opportunities for
people to get to know the farmers behind
their families food the family farmer
but that what I’m suggesting people
often dismiss as unrealistic an
economical non inclusive and something
that just won’t feed the world you know
what I don’t like it one bit when people
bring that last bit up the whole spiel
on feeding the world the idea that it’s
my job that it’s the magic valley’s job
to feed the world that whole belief in
argument leaves a bad taste in my mouth
not because we already produce enough
today to feed the world twice over that
we collectively throw away 45% of all
edible food into the garbage or that the
root of global food insecurity is not
production but distribution no I don’t
like that idea because it has determined
the foundation and justification for
modern-day agriculture the logic usually
goes if we can grow more food more
cheaply more quickly than ever before
what’s the big deal
what could possibly be so terrible doing
that what’s terrible and what hurts our
farmers and our families is that in this
food system only 15 cents of every $1
spent goes back to the farmer which
means when you buy industrial produce
processed food the farmer isn’t
receiving much of a paycheck unless
they’re producing massive quantities of
food product our food travels 1,500
miles on average before it reaches your
plates which means burning more fossil
fuels less nutritious food more chance
of contamination and simply food that
isn’t fresh and only 5% of the final
food sale stays in the local economy but
let’s take a step back I didn’t come
here today just to expose modern
agriculture make you second-guess the
lunch you had today see the the thing is
I’m still passionate about agriculture
and I’m convinced that localized
agriculture will offer us a far better
future of food and farming the reason I
look to a local food and farming system
is that in contrast to what I just
shared in a local food system 45 cents
of every $1 spent goes back to the
farmer our food travels 150 miles on
average before it reaches our plate and
more than 40% of the final food sale
stays in the local economy talk about
local and talk about fresh but more than
all of these statistics and things to
talk about and consider if we are to be
the change in the world that we wish
see then we must follow in passion
desire with tangible action and I’ve
done just that with the help of friends
and family in my community at 19 years
old I’ve rediscovered something of a
solution it’s a fusion of the farmers
market and the convenience of home
delivery what I do is find as many local
farmers and producers as possible but
there meets greens dairies eggs potatoes
tomatoes breads and whatever it be up
onto a website I’ve created people can
hop onto that website order exactly what
their local food heart desires and voila
the following week fresh local food is
delivered directly to their doorstep in
a nutshell I found the intersection of
freaky fresh foods and clever customer
convenience I’m one guy doing something
about the future of our food and farming
it’s a battle for sure but the uphill
climb to a brighter future of food and
farming isn’t impossible we can all
participate all we have to do is
understand this the way we spend our
dollars shapes the kind of world we live
in
thus every food decision you make
whether it be at a grocery store
restaurant or farmers market is a real
tangible vote forming what kind of
future we intend to have what we eat is
what we’re voting to support so here’s
how you can vote local while you’re at
the grocery store look for seals like
the by Idaho seal or wherever your phone
find seals that indicate the food
product is grown locally or within the
state while you’re at a restaurant if
it’s not already on the menu ask where
your food is coming from if it’s local
be sure to let the chef know you
appreciate that if it isn’t local
encourage the restaurant to consider
buying local and lastly go to farmers
markets find stores selling local and
just in general support local businesses
we can all participate
the path towards a brighter future of
food and farming it can be as simple as
voting with your food choices two things
as complex is starting a business to
facilitate the movement of local food
it’s up to us in our grassroots food
votes to decide what the future of food
will look like we cannot allow our
history to be written by corporations
driven by greed or governments that lack
thought of tomorrow this isn’t a matter
of human nature either we must fulfill
the binomial nomenclature of wise man
and wise enough so walk away today
empowered with the knowledge the
conscience and the capacity to
grassroots vote for our farmers our families and our food thank you
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