Field Trip:  Virtual Wisconsin Farms 

Instead of visiting an actual place, I decided to do a visual tour of an area of Wisconsin through means of a show broadcasted through PBS.  The show is called "Around the Farm Table".  

  

I really enjoyed this show!  Each episode is about 25 minutes long and there are 21 episodes.  The host is named Inga Witscher.  She moved to Wisconsin to open an organic dairy farm.  That is when she discovered the abundance of local farming opportunities.  This show highlights some of those wonderful people and dives into understanding what it is they do.  My knowledge is more on the ranching side of things so I really enjoyed diving more into the farming aspect of this lifestyle.  I learned a lot from this show about supporting local efforts in farming.  It inspired me to do more research about local farming contributors right here in the Cache Valley.    

Throughout the show there were a lot of aspects of it that made the experience feel real to me.  Because of my experience in the ranching community I do feel as if I could determine whether something is staged or not.  I truly believe that the experiences in this show are authentic.  Sure it has some scripted bits but when it comes to the actual farming, I believe it felt as real as it could through my computer screen.  

At the end of each episode she would cook something using the ingredients she acquired from the various farms and businesses she visited.  I loved this!  I love to cook so I was happy to get some more ideas about things I could cook using ingredients I can find locally.  I will definitely be visiting our local farmers market this summer.  

  

Possibly the most frequent concept that was shown throughout this program was that farming and ranching has the power to bring a community together.  It has the power to let people share their talents and feel great about their contributions to their community.  Everywhere needs people who are willing and worthy to get their hands dirty for the benefit of others.  This show does a wonderful job of highlighting that.  I am so glad for this experience and I now have a new and wonderful understanding of the importance of local farming efforts.  The following is a commercial that was created to celebrate the farmer and to help people appreciate what they do.  It is wonderful and I think that everyone should watch it.  

So God Made a Farmer