The Man Behind the Dirt

If any of you have ever watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel, or a multitude of other Discovery Channel programs you are probably familiar with the name Mike Rowe. Now up until about a month ago I just thought he was some funny guy that became the host of a TV show to show off some really funny jobs. That is until I, by happenstance, stumbled upon mikeroweWORKS.com. I was immediately enthralled for over an hour searching around this website dedicated to promoting “hard work.”

As I continued to look into it more I continued to be very impressed. As it turns out Mike himself was the one that had the idea to start what has now become Dirty Jobs, and he is no host. Instead, he is the apprentice; the people doing every Dirty Job are the hosts. Every show starts with an entry by Mike:

“My name's Mike Rowe, and this is my job. I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty — hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. Now, get ready to get dirty.”

And that is exactly what he does. He has spent the last five years traveling all 50 states doing over 200 jobs that most of us hardly ever even think of, and he jumps right in. The real draw of the show is the people that he meets and the interactions that he has with them. Mike has a great ability to interact with the workers and get them to show off their passion for the work that they are doing.

Now why am I praising the TV host? Well, the more I dig, the more I find that he has started a movement. A little over two years ago he finally welled up enough information and fortitude to launch mikeroweWORKS.com. His goal was to spread awareness and promotion of skilled workers. The website is full of information to help people that are looking to become skilled workers; articles, blogs, discussion boards, and the list goes on. He has used his persona to raise awareness for a noble cause.

Mike Rowe has found a way to make skilled labor respectable, and fun. That is not an easy task, and his movement is building. There are a lot of companies that are beginning to align with him to spread the word and encourage people to become involved. I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind that between the diminishing infrastructure in our country, the growing population in the world, and the increased attention to environmental stability around the world there is an increased need for awareness and promotion of skilled workers.

So this is my salute to you Mike Rowe, you have truly taken the initiative to help people. We need more people like you, especially in such high profile places.

Here is a link to his website. So, get ready to get dirty... www.mikeroweWORKS.com

United We Stand

I have long talked about and even longer thought about how to tell the story of agriculture to people that are not involved with it in their every day lives. I always try to tell my story whenever the opportunity arises, and even sometimes when it doesn’t (which does become a little awkward), and I always try to answer questions that my friends have. We really need more interaction like that, people that are willing to have an open dialogue about some of the concerns with our food system. I assure you that I, nor anyone in my field, is one bit ashamed of our practices and we have to be willing to talk about them. We do a great job telling each other about what we are doing, and we do a great job telling our story to the youth in agriculture, but mostly we are just preaching to the choir.

There has not been an organized way for this to happen on a greater level than the grassroots individual conversations. Until now, that is. About a month ago at the Illinois State Fair, on Ag Day, a coalition of groups made an announcement. Something that has been brewing for a few months and now it is finally becoming a reality. Members of the American Farm Bureau, Illinois Corn Growers, Illinois Beef, Illinois Pork Producers, and Illinois Soybean announced the Farmer Image Campaign. They revealed research conducted on their behalf by the public relations agency Morgan & Myers, which include a poll of 1,100 non-farm adults in Illinois. Among their findings:

• They believe 54% of Illinois farm products come from "corporate farms" and 46% comes from "family farms." (Not from the survey: USDA stats show 94% of the nation's food supply comes from individual family farms and partnerships. Just a little number to tuck under your cap.)
• They cannot clearly define "factory farms," yet uniformly feel that such farms dominate Illinois agriculture.
• Two-thirds say they are not knowledgeable about farming practices used on Illinois farms. But two-thirds also say they are personally concerned about lax regulations of corporate farms and are concerned about the role of big business in farming.

So, you say, this is just useless research data. Well, with this they are aiming to start a real campaign. They are going to start an ad campaign that features Illinois family farmers to try to show consumers what real commercial farming looks like. Now, for people like me, we may never see the fruits of this labor (think preaching to the choir again). This ad campaign will be focused where it is needed most.

Now if you could see me talking about this in person, you would be able to see how excited I am about this. I had the opportunity to participate in a Farm Bureau Young Leader Discussion Meet last month, and this was one of the very topics that we discussed. It was evident from the discussion that we had that I, along with my fellow contestants, am very excited and passionate about this. It is very exciting to see the leadership of our industry moving in this direction. Now I stand waiting for a call to assist. I don’t really know what I would be able to do to help with something like this, but if they ask you better bet I will be eager to volunteer.

Heres a link to a little video: The Greatest Story Never Told