Writer: Lindsay Garrett, Texas A&M Senior, agriculture communications and journalism
COLLEGE STATION — Students in the Animal Science Department and others from across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (COALS) are putting the “A” back in Texas “A&M” University.
Not enough people know where their food comes from and so do not appreciate the vital role that agriculture plays in their lives. In response, a group of self-proclaimed “AgVocates” is joining together on April 12 at Texas A&M to help consumers understand their connection to agriculture and help them build confidence in the food they eat.
The group is part of the Farmers Fight movement, which began in response to agricultural protests on campus, false articles in the campus newspaper about meat, and an article on Yahoo about the uselessness of an agricultural-related degree. More than 200 students have joined together to share their story.
Farmers Fight has student organizations from COALS setting up booths all over campus and representatives at each booth/organization will be talking about a sector of agriculture. Farmers Fight wants to highlight the advancement that each agricultural sector has made in recent years and to educate the public on the diversity of agriculture in today’s society.
“Farmers Fight hopes to bring the agriculture student body together to tell agriculture’s story to the rest of the Texas A&M campus, to encourage consumers to ask questions and to give all students, faculty, public officials, along with farmers and ranchers the opportunity to meet and discuss the importance of agriculture and the agriculture community,” said Callie McCullough, a senior animal science major.
McCullough is in charge of updating the Farmers Fight weekly blog, along with editing each article that is posted. “I am looking forward to speaking with students across campus who might not know about agriculture or where their food comes from,” she said, adding that she is also excited to communicate with students who and learn their thoughts about agriculture.
Saddle and Sirloin is one of 22 student organizations participating in Farmers Fight. Saddle and Sirloin’s booth will represent all the different agricultural-related by-products found in a common household.
“Our goal is to engage our fellow Aggies in agriculture by showing them that nearly everything they use at home, whether it be makeup, clothes, boots, food, leather, etc. all comes from animals or crops that we raise,” said Lea Luensmann, sophomore animal science major and head of Saddle and Sirloin’s involvement with Farmers Fight.
Saddle and Sirloin plans to have a trivia game at its booth, where people can try to match by-products with the animals they came from, as well as a few big by-products on display.
“I feel that this is going to be a huge event for agriculture,” said Henry Hilscher, Saddle and Sirloin president. “I wanted to make sure Saddle and Sirloin was involved so animal science majors could have an outlet to participate in this big day.”
To learn more about Farmers Fight visit their blog (http://tamufarmersfight.blogspot.com/p/about-writers.html) or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
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