Finding Common Ground

Farm women across the Midwest as well as New York and South Carolina have come together to create CommonGround, a volunteer group that shares their stories about life on the farm and how food is grown and produced. They also answer questions about modern agriculture production, letting consumers know that “we don’t have to fear our food”. One of the CommonGround volunteers is Joan Ruskamp of Nebraska who’s demonstration using M & M’s to help explain the presence of hormones in foods has gone viral. Ruskamp stresses that hormones are a natural part of life and are in many of the foods we eat. Her presentation of canning jars with M & M’s in them representing the number of hormones found in several different foods, from beef to peas to potatoes to eggs, is very interesting indeed. The jar representing the amount of hormones in a serving of beef has the least number of M & M’s in it. To find out more about the CommonGround program visit findourcommonground.com. Hopefully this very important group will continue to grow and be represented by every state in the country. It’s through volunteers and groups like this that consumers will hear the real story behind agriculture and the foods they eat.