Illinois Farm Families Blog

I’m digressing.

Anyway, I am really excited and passionate about this relationship we are forging between farmers and consumers, and after our first Moms Meet-Up this summer, I have been talking about being a part of this again if the opportunity arose. I came home from my first Moms Meet Up feeling like I could spread the story of my life on the farm to the entire world. Through good, meaty discussions along with aha! moments (both from the city and farm moms), excellent connections were made, and I was pumped.

So, as I readied myself (most importantly with a good outfit!) for this event just this past Sunday, my expectations were sky-high. However, as I watched the moms trickle in, counting the heads of the city moms in attendance, and realizing it was less than before, I was initially disappointed. I am passionate about this plight. I am ready to tell my story. As a mom, I can relate to the Field Moms because we all want to care for our children the best we can. However, when it comes to food, in this world of sometimes information overload, how do you know what is the right or true information? I truly believe that this relationship between the Field Moms and the farmers is an awesome way to close this disconnect.

That is what happened on Sunday. In the midst of this big, beautiful city, we farmers- who are generally more comfortable in tractor cabs than taxi cabs- sat down with the city moms, engaging in easy conversation about our lives, our livelihood, something we are so passionate about. This meet up allowed the city moms to not only hear the perspectives from one or two farm families, but farmers who not only raise corn and soybeans, but cattle, dairy cows, and hogs. We farmers were able to better explain ourselves and demonstrate the similarities between our farms, similar fears and concerns, and even demonstrate how alike we all are, even if we raise different animals and crops hundreds of miles from each other.

It was fascinating. This opportunity on Sunday truly showed that whether it’s farmer to farmer or city mom to farmer, we are all the same. We are all out here trying to care for our families as best as we can. Whether our commute to work is by train or taxi or dualie pick up truck, we’re all a bunch of folks hoping to do right in the world, whether its raising kids in the city or crops in the country.

I love being a part of these Mom Meet-Ups. I love sharing my story because there are times I can’t believe that I’m living where I do! I hope to keep telling my story to all who will listen, and hope that I can keep coming up to the city to enjoy all that it has to offer!

Emily Webel
Farmington, Illinois

Emily Webel is a farmer’s wife, mother of four, runner, former teacher, and author of the blog, Confessions of a Farm Wife. She lives in Farmington, Illinois.

 

We’re in Chicago this weekend! I’ll be joining many of the farmers who have shared their stories and experiences on this blog when we come together to meet Chicago moms and answer their questions about food and farming. You are invited to join us.

We’ll be at the Palmer House Hilton (17 E Monroe Street, Chicago) this Sunday, Dec. 4 from 3:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

You’ll meet Holly Spangler, Emily Webel, Carrie Pollard, Katie Pratt, and Chris Gould, among other Illinois family farmers. Even though we have different types of farms, you’ll see we all share a commitment to have conversations with consumers, answer your questions about how we grow safe, healthy food, and share what happens on our farms.

We are excited to spend an afternoon learning what’s important to you and your family when it comes to food. We hope you’ll enjoy having some coffee and desserts along the way!

There is no cost to attend and you are welcome to bring a few friends. You can find all the details and RSVP on our Meetup site: http://www.meetup.com/Chicagoland-Field-Moms/events/39983882/.

See you soon!

Deb Moore
Roseville, Illinois

Anyway. Wild may be a bit of an overstatement, as we were two moms escaping our farms with Emily's wonderfulperfectwellbehavedangelic 2 ½-month-old baby, Jack, along. Seriously, you've hardly seen such a placid little child. He was a doll.

Anyway, again. The plan was to meet up with two other farm moms, Deb Moore and Donna Jeschke, at a café, along with some 40 Chicago area moms who are either bloggers or who are part of a moms group that expressed interest in knowing more about their food supply. It was, in a word, fascinating.

We surveyed the scene, as women poured into the café. We talked and greeted and learned a bit about each other. Then we four farm women introduced ourselves and told a bit about our families and farm operations. Almost immediately after introductions were over, a lovely young woman named Katherine came over and simply gushed that if she'd been asked to pick out the four farm moms in the group, she never would have picked us. "You're so trendy!" she said. "You're dressed like us. You all are, like, hot farm moms!"

I had (and still have) no idea how to respond to that, as I've never heard those exact words strung together in regard to a group I'm a part of, but it was a fascinating observation. And as I questioned her and a group of other women, I learned that they really and truly expected us to be in jeans and boots and plaid shirts. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Someone asked Emily if she wore bibs. "Um, no," she said. I admitted I sometimes wear Carhartt bibs to do chores and pull calves in the winter, but that's it. I haven't worn bibs as a fashion statement since the mid-1990s, and I'm not ever sure if I should admit that.

Fashion aside, we then divided into three groups, and the four of us rotated through each group. We took questions like:

• What do you think about documentaries like King Corn?
• What's your day like?
• It seems like from what we hear that Monsanto controls everything and now they're getting into food. How do you feel about them having a monopoly?
• Do you take vacations?

And we fielded comments like:

• It's just unnatural to breed plants in a laboratory and have our food come from there.
• I don't like crossing tomatoes and fish and everything else. We're messing with our food supply too much. I don't even like rice with Vitamin D. It's too much like we can just pop a pill or a grain some day and get all our nutritional needs from that one thing.
• Something like 80% of all corn goes into ethanol.

So our challenge was to first, relate to these women, which wasn't all that difficult. My kids are 8, 6 and 3, and these women all had young children as well. The second challenge was to answer the questions, be honest and do not be defensive. We did correct misinformation where necessary (23% of Illinois corn goes into Illinois ethanol plants…not 80%). But we strove to do so without becoming defensive and without judgment and superiority. No one wants to be made to feel ignorant, and you will not win people over by making them feel that way.

The fact is, these women are much like us, but with less freezer space. They don't have access to local meat or their own sweet corn patch, and they're distrustful. I think, very honestly, I would feel the same way. They don't get the same information we do. They get documentaries about King Corn and Food, Inc., and Farmageddon, and they get Katie Couric insinuating that antibiotics are bad. That would make me question, too.

In all, it was a good night. If the goal was to talk to the food-buying decision-making consumers who have questions and want answers, we succeeded brilliantly. I'd load up and head north again in a heartbeat.

Holly Spangler
Marietta, Illinois

Holly Spangler is farmwife to John, mother to three little farm kids, and farm writer for Prairie Farmer, all from their farmstead in western Illinois. You can follow her blog here.

At home on the farm, we are battling the heat and dry weather along with everyone else in the state.  We are in an area that had too much rain in May and too little rain in July.  We did receive about 2.6 inches of rain last week, all in about 30 minutes.  That was about it for the rain for the month of July.  We are constantly checking our cattle to make sure they have enough water and shade.  We can only hope for cooler weather and some rain for the cattle and crops.

Next week, I will again have the opportunity to travel to Chicago to meet with young moms and talk to them about our farm and becoming a Field Mom.  On Monday, August 8th, I am sponsoring a Chicago Mom Meet up at Little Beans Cafe, 1809 W. Webster, Chicago at 7:00 PM.  Illinois Farm Families are looking for Field Moms, Chicago area moms over the age of 18 with at least one child under the age of 13 living at home.  (Applications are being accepted through August 21 and application information can be found at www.watchusgrow.org.)  I am excited about getting to meet young moms and find out what questions they have about what we do on our farm.  

While I am in Chicago, I will be able to visit my family.  My mom, sister, brother and two of my sons live in the Chicago area. We are able to travel between the farm in Warren County and my family in Cook County many times during the summer and winter. During the spring and fall, things are pretty busy on the farm and it is harder to get away from the farm during those seasons. During the fall, the Field Moms will be visiting our farm to see what we do during harvest. I am looking forward to having them come to the farm and show them what we do during a busy harvest day!

Deb Moore
Roseville, Ill.