10/29/2025
Most people today are three to five generations removed from the farm. Their grandparents maybe milked a cow before school — now they just pick up an oat milk latte on the way to work.
And honestly? That’s not their fault.
They didn’t choose to grow up in a world where small farms disappeared, grocery stores took over, and food started showing up pre-cut, pre-washed, and wrapped in plastic. Somewhere between the barn and the shopping cart, the story got lost.
So when people online say things like “farmers pump animals full of hormones” or “that poor calf was taken from its mom,” I get it. If I didn’t live this life every day, I might believe that too. They’re not bad people — they’re just disconnected.
But here’s the deal: it might not be your fault you don’t know, but it is your responsibility to learn if you care about where your food comes from. And that means learning from actual farmers — not someone on social media reposting dramatic videos with depressing music who’s never stepped in a barn, let alone cleaned one.
Ask questions. Be curious. Visit a farm (with the farmers permission...it isn't a free for all petting zoo).
Because I promise, what you’ll find isn’t some giant corporation twirling its mustache — it’s families who care deeply about their animals, their land, and the people they’re feeding.
And to my fellow farmers — we’ve got work to do too.
We can’t just roll our eyes and say, “People are clueless.” They’re not clueless — they’re just removed. So instead of getting defensive, we need to share our story. Explain the “why.” Show the care. Be patient when it’d be easier not to be.
Because if we don’t tell our story, someone else will — and odds are, they’ll get it wrong.
The disconnect is real, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
It starts with consumers willing to listen and farmers willing to talk — both working toward the same thing: good food, good land, and a little more understanding between the folks who grow it and the folks who eat it.
