No "Us", No "Them"... Only "We"

This past week, any work I was doing with the AGvocate program had to be put on hold for my other job with the Virginia FFA Association. I recently took a new position as the State Officer Coordinator, in which I manage the travel, activities and personal growth of the Virginia State FFA Officer team.

2012-2013 Virginia FFA State Officer Team

Last Thursday, another State Staff member and I led a bus trip with 50+ FFA members and advisors to Springfield, MA, where these students participated in the FFA CDE events at the Big E, the largest fair on the East coast. This was the first trip that I coordinated with my new position, so I was more than a little nervous about managing the hotel accommodation, making a shuttle schedule, and trying to not leave anyone behind. And of course, the night before we leave, the cold from you-know-where hit me like a ton of bricks.

However, by Saturday night, I had hit my stride and was able to fully enjoy the awards banquet. Looking around the banquet hall, you could see Virginia FFA jackets scattered among the New England and other Northeastern states. As the results were announced, cheers erupted from the crowd in support of the winners. 

But no applause was as deafening as the Banquet Chair stated that this year's Sweepstakes Winner (which is awarded to the state with most accumulated points across all contests - Ohio almost always wins) was Virginia. It was awesome to see chapters who are normally ultra-competitive with one another congratulating and cheering for each other for a job well done. In that moment, there were no individual chapters, but instead a unified feeling of pride for Virginia.

The Virginia FFA Association Group (with National Officer Cain Thurmond) after winning the
Sweepstakes Award - A first time win for Virginia!

Granted, this was not a Virginia AGvocate event, but there is a strong underlying message in what I observed this weekend.

American agriculture is lucky to have great diversity - in marketing, in products, in consumer options. However, I think this sometimes works against us when it comes to reflecting a positive image of agriculture. In an effort to promote one branch of agriculture, I often observe us publicly degrading another. We have to ask ourselves when we are having inner-industry battles of issues such as Organic vs. Conventional or Small vs. Large Scale Farming: "How does this look to the average consumer? Does this make them confident in American agriculture and it's products?"

As AGvocates, our first priority should be educating consumers in an unbiased manner. There shouldn't be an "us" vs. "them" attitude in agriculture because we are all playing for the same team. By doing this, well informed consumers will be able to better choose the agriculture products that best suit their needs and have confidence that agricultural producers care about the quality of their products.