Have you ever heard the saying, “New year, new me”? With 2025 being a new year, we can ask ourselves how we can create a “new” or “better” industry of agriculture.
Sometimes, the best way to do that is to talk to people outside of agriculture.
Commander Anthony Conley, the senior naval science instructor at Pearl River High School in Louisiana, said that we can truly make a change through social media and television. Conley also said the public poses questions from start to finish about how their products were made and produced. He says we can educate the general public about agriculture using the platforms at our fingertips. An example was lab-grown versus farm-raised meat. As an industry, Conley said we should show the “true colors” of how unhealthy the lab-grown meat can be.
Swim coach and science teacher Darla Nave and history teacher and Facta-non-Verba coordinator Melissa Simpher were also interviewed. After being asked the same question, Nave asked what she needed to do for farmers, as Nave and Simpher were curious about farmers’ income. Simpher wants to know, “How do they survive when the costs are so high during low product years? What about a good year?” Both are not opposed to the idea of helping farms large and small, but where they should go to do so is the question.
In conclusion, advocating for this industry is important. Conley suggested using social media and television to answer questions like the ones asked by Simpher and Nave.
We can let the general public know what we are all about. Let’s make this year the year to promote agriculture and make that change. Visit the National FFA Agricultural Literacy and Advocacy webpage to learn more.
