Speaking Out on Ag
Speaking Out on Ag. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
A few years back I was involved on the fringes of the pageant circuit. You know what used to be called beauty pageants. It was rare to find someone who really stood out in the crowd and could make her mark. The current Miss America, Teresa Scanlan is a true midwest gal that using her crown to get across the message that the farming industry needs our support.
SCANLAN: To me it means the difference between prosperity and disaster in our country. To me it means the difference between forgetting our roots and what is most important to our country or holding on to that thin green line and protecting it, protecting the heartland of the country. To me it means protecting a way of life and a livelihood for many farmers and those involved in agriculture in the midwest and helping others understand the importance of that.
She hopes that her position as Miss America can help bridge the gap between rural and urban communities.
SCANLAN: Agriculture can move the country forward and if we don’t have that base it’s going to make us more dependent on other countries and so I think it’s important that everybody understands those things and especially young people that don’t always get the information they should in these urban areas of the country. And so I think in my role this year I have a unique position to be able to speak about that and hopefully help people understand how important it is.
At 17, Scanlan is the youngest Nebraskan to be crowned Miss America and she feels that’s important.
SCANLAN: People my age don’t understand the importance of it. We’re a couple of generations removed from the farm or whatever the case may be that we’re not directly involved with that and so I’ve found a lot of times the attitudes toward it just aren’t positive so I think whatever we can do to change that is going to help change the attitude across the country as well.
She has teamed up with the group The Hand That Feeds U.S. and has thrown her support behind the U.S. Cattleman’s Association.
SCANLAN: I think really the only way is to talk about it, to make it apparent, to get it out there with everybody you know or are able to reach. Who ever your audience or your circle of influence however large or small that may be, I think every person in our community, in our state and in the midwest in general can advocate this causeby reaching the people around them.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
