Pages

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Birthday Party

At my job on campus we frequently have birthday parties.  I think there must be a birthday party a month at least between the University Relations and Alumni Development departments and they're always fun because we get together, eat a dessert and talk in the Heritage Room.  On Wednesday we celebrated the birthday of the graphic designer on campus and I was one of two student workers there among the full time employees.

Somehow the topic of conversation at Wednesday's party got to be about farms and it appeared that everyone I was sitting near had grown up on a farm or at least had a close relative or friend who had.  An employee in printing mentioned that we used to drink raw milk and nobody thought twice about it, but said that now nobody does that.  As someone who drinks the milk from my family's dairy farm straight from the bulk tank, I mentioned that I still drink raw milk when I go home and actually prefer the taste.  I know raw milk is a controversial subject and everyone has their own opinions about it, which is completely fine, but it is interesting to see how opinion on it can change over the years.

Since everyone around me at the party was older than me, it also struck me how it used to be much more common for someone to be from a farm or at least know someone close who was.  With today's farm numbers continually declining, this just emphasizes the need for educating the public about farmers do everything and how their food is produced.  If people don't know anyone on a farm, they have nothing to base their knowledge on.

It was interesting to be able to talk about dairy and farms at a birthday party for work and it just goes to show that agriculture conversations can come up anywhere.

No comments:

Post a Comment