By Connor Wingert
Most of us sit at the dinner table with family or go out to our favorite restaurant and enjoy having fresh foods like steak, burgers, or maybe vegetables. Or maybe you like fresh fruits like grapes, apples, or other types of fruit, maybe you favor some frozen foods like pizza. But how many of us actually know where these foods come from? It doesn’t matter if you choose an alternative diet such as vegan or vegetarian, we all should still consider thanking a farmer.
Some would argue that farmers are to blame for pollution. Manure runs into rivers and streams killing fish and other wildlife. Sprays pollute the air and water also from excess usage. I don’t believe so — let’s take a look at why.
Farmers provide food, stimulate the economy, and protect the earth all in a day’s work. Farmers get up early and stay up late just to care for their crops or livestock. The reason they do this is to provide quality products to keep you and me healthy and strong. Farmers also put more time in their jobs than any of us could even comprehend. Most livestock and crop farmers put in at least 14-hour days. Without farmers there would be no food for you or me to enjoy besides what you grow as a family or an individual, which probably isn’t very much.
Farmers also stimulate the economy by buying and selling livestock, fertilizer, feed, seed, spray, building materials, minerals for animals, and fencing supplies. If there were no farmers to stimulate the economy, lots of prices would go up such as, that of electricity. You may not have thought of it, but farmers use lots of electricity for machinery shops, livestock barns, and grain bin fans. If there were no farmers, many electrical companies and many other companies would be out of business, and as a result, many people could lose their jobs. There would also be a rise in water prices, with no milk that would come from a farmer’s cow, and no juice that would be from a farmer’s fruit.
Farmers also protect the Earth’s resources by putting in terraces and waterways to slow the flow of water through their fields, which stops erosion. Without waterways and terraces sprays and fertilizers could run into streams, creeks, and rivers. Farmers take water quality very seriously; yes, there have been few farmers that got a big fine for not being careful enough with the water around their fields. But the waste was cleaned up and properly cared for. There was even a test by the MN Millennial Farmer that shows that some creeks have fewer harmful materials in them than bottled water.
So in conclusion, you should thank a farmer for getting up early and staying up late to provide top-quality food for you and me. We thank farmers for keeping the economy steady by buying and selling just about anything you can imagine. Also, we thank farmers for keeping creeks, streams, and rivers as clean as they possibly can be by being as careful as possible with hazardous materials such as sprays and pesticides. The next time you sit down to enjoy a big juicy steak, remember to thank a local farmer.
Connor Wingert wrote this persuasive essay earlier this year as an eighth grader at Fillmore Central School. He is the son of Brad and Holly Wingert
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