I’m sure you have seen the show Dirty Jobs featuring Mike Rowe and is adventures diving into some of the “dirtiest” jobs Americans tackle on a daily basis. Have you checked out his website mikeroweworks.com, or more specifically his blog on Farming, Fishing, and Food? It’s something to check out if you haven’t.
Back in September Mike posted about his visit to the FFA convention and once again he questions how “300 million Americans – all addicted to eating – have become disconnected from the people who provide our food?” Check out an excerpt from this post:
On Dirty Jobs, I’m no expert, and I’m even less of one here. But I have a theory, and it goes like this – all jobs rely on one of two industries – mining and agriculture. Every tangible thing our society needs is either pulled from the ground, or grown from the ground. Without these fundamental industries there would be no jobs of any kind. There would be no economy. Civilization begins with miners and farmers, and polite society is only possible when skilled workers transform those raw materials into something useful or edible.
I started mikeroweWORKS.com, because I think we’ve become disconnected from that basic premise. I think we’ve simply forgotten about the underlying industries upon which all else depends, and as a result, created for ourselves a vocational identity crisis. Our collective definition of a “good job” has evolved into something that no longer resembles Work, and that has detached us from a great many things, including our food, and the people who provide it.
I auditioned the other day for the voiceover on a TV commercial about the American Farmer. (Yeah, I still audition.) I don’t recall the whole thing, but it started out like this – “Every year we demand more and more from our farmers. More food from less land. More food from less energy. More food from less labor. And every year our farmers deliver.”I believe that to be a true statement. I also believe that as a country, we haven’t made it easy for them. Two percent of our population provides the rest of us with all the food we need, and we behave as though it’s our birthright. Like nothing we do can threaten the abundance. It seems to me that as a country, we could do a better job of supporting the people who feed us. And we could start by acknowledging the incredible challenges facing The American Farmer.
Kudos to Mike for putting his thoughts on the subject out there for review. I admire the fact that society is built from the ground up and agriculture plays a role as part of the foundation. Maybe one of these days Agriculture can stop bickering about conventional versus modern, get its act together, and feed the world with everyone filling their niche.
What are your thoughts? Have you read other posts by Mike Rowe? I would sure like to meet him face-to-face some day. Every one of his posts give me some food for thought.
