A very MEATY summer...

As I close out another summer in our nation’s capital I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the fun, crazy, and exciting experience that I had this year. I will preface this by telling you that I never thought that I would end up back in Washington, D.C after last year. I thought that the internship I had at Monsanto was a once in the lifetime experience and how was I ever going to top it! Then I learned that no matter how hard you try, you can never top your first (at least in the memory category).

I started out the summer kinda rocky due to not being able to find a place to live and eventually with the tons of help from my roommate (ok, she did it all) we found a place to live. I was moving back to the city where I should have known tons of people, but the truth is everyone that I knew had left for the summer because they were college students.

When my parents moved me in for yet another summer in the big city it was a different response all together from last summers. That is because this year I lived in a not so good part of town. Throughout the summer right out my front door or a few blocks away there has been a dog fight, a shooting, a bomb threat, and I happen to live next door to some drug dealers (unconfirmed). I have been called names (they seemed to think terms of endearment) that I hope to never hear again and really have only feared for my life once (and even that time wasn’t too bad…just someone getting too close for comfort).

After meeting my other two roommates that both work for NPR I soon learned that living in a house with people who have very different ideas of my own was the lesson of the summer.

The internship at the American Meat Institute was such a different experience than I had last year. Over at Monsanto I was a part of a department whereas at AMI I was apart of the whole association/company. At Monsanto in order to see the President/CEO I had to watch teleconferences, at AMI I could walk into his office (although I never did..haha).



Monsanto offered me the corporate environment of multiple tiers of leadership and many networking opportunities throughout the company. AMI offered me close nit group where I could network with thousands of member companies.



Being apart of the AMI team I realized that it isn’t corporate agriculture that certain people are after, they are after ALL of conventional agriculture. You know people are after you when in order to get onto the AMI floor you need a special key, to get into the door you need a special key, and if you leave the door open a second too long then the alarm sounds….apparently they have had some run in with Peta. People wanting to attack our industry and the people in it is such a slap in the face to our farmers. Like it or not the food that you eat does come from an actual person whose title just happens to be “farmer”.

I hate the fact that our society has come down to questioning the occupation of farmers. When was the last time the secretary (or as they are referred to now Administrative Assistants) was questioned about her/his duties and title. They are allowed to live a day where they work mostly from 9-5. A farmer puts in so much more time than that and they are still criticized. I just don’t understand it.

This summer AMI made me realize that defending our food supply has truly become a reality. I know this doesn’t apply to defending beliefs but this quote from my soccer days just came to mind. “Offense sells tickets but defense wins games.” So while Peta/HSUS are on the offense, our defense will win in the end.

Now it is back to the homeland.....Western Kentucky

To be or not to be…..an agvocate.

Now to most people there is a simple answer to this question, of course be an agvocate! The idea of advocating for something that is so near and dear to my heart like agriculture is a no brainer! However, lately when starting to write for my blog I hesitate when it comes to defending my industry.

Many people can tell you that I have never been one for a lack of words. Those same people will also tell you that I hate to be wrong. So when these two worlds come crashing together I become very silent. The truth is I am afraid to agvocate and then be wrong about something that I said.

I did this when presenting my undergraduate research at the ADSA/ASAS Joint Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. I looked at my professor and asked, “What happens if they ask me this impossible question about my research that I don’t have the answer to?” He simply replied, “No one knows your research more than you do, not even me. I only know more about the analysis, so if you get any questions about that just send them to me.” And you wanna know what, HE WAS RIGHT (don’t let him know though)! I received so many questions about what I did by people who were genuinely interested in my research and not on making me look like a fool. I even was able to start a conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin and she gave me some amazing career advice. This one on one conversation eventually turned into all the undergrads (the grad students were out and about) asking her for advice and having a great conversation about what we should be doing to inform the public.



I learned that day that no one knows agriculture better than the people that were raised on a farm, and the farmers themselves. I learned that I should never be scared to voice my opinion and if I am not confident in a piece of information that I wanna share with people I have a whole host of professors at the University of Kentucky that will gladly set me straight. Upon graduating from UK I was given something that most people dream of, a toolbox of resources. Those resources are named, Dr. Bewley, Dr. Heersche, Dr. McAlister, Dr. Bob, DAP, Dr. Aaron, Dr. Thrift, Dr. Ely, Dr. Cromwell, Dr. Cantor, Dr. Pescatore etc. I could go on and on with the names that I have in my contacts list that are more than happy to help me with agvocating and making my future brighter and I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for their expertise and guidance.

Creativity...do I have any?

The school year is almost upon us and I am moving back to my great state of Kentucky next week and I got to thinking....this could be the last semester I am ever in school. And what did I decide to do with my last semester in school? I chose to take 13 hours of classes, work a part-time job (that consists of writing two scholarly journal articles for my undergraduate research), and enjoy the simple pleasures of being only responsibly for me. The classes that I have chosen to take are ones that I believe will help me through life, for example I don't believe myself to be the most creative of people...in fact sometimes I cruise the internet just on ways to figure out cute things that someone else came up with and then I can copy in my own house. So in order to work myself into being creative I am taking a class entitled (I can't make this stuff up) Creativity 101! It is considered a humanities at the University of Kentucky and fulfills my universities requirement in order to officially graduate! The creative juices are starting to flow!



Next I am taking Dairy Judging. Now I have already taken a intense (I say that for Dr. Heersche) Dairy Judging course. But this one is where you get to go to amazing places like World Dairy Expo, and Harrisburg, PA (I don't know what is there, but trust me it is a big deal!) I love cows, I have always loved cows, I grew up on a dairy farm and my step-father quit dairying when I was in high school. He blames it on me saying that I never would like to milk cows and he wouldn't have any help outside. I think he just says it in an effort to make me feel horrible that we had to quit because it was becoming nothing more than a very costly hobby. Since being in college I have spent more time out at the UK dairy and being with cow loving people than I ever was in Fancy Farm, KY. Heck, I even went to Scotland in May to do nothing else but see their cows and compare their industry to ours.

I am also taking a class (to fulfill my cross cultural) about politics in 3rd world countries. I am thinking that I will learn so much from this class because so much more goes into politics from around the world and third world countries than go into our country. Politics in other countries especially ones with low incomes is much more hostile and dangerous. I have a feeling it will humble me and appreciate the country that I am from, even more.

The final class I am taking is an Ag Econ one. It's probably the most serious in my schedule. It is a class that looks at International Agriculture and trade. I am super excited about this one because I love to look at the various cultures and how the way they live influences the way they trade. For example, we are the only country that has a separation of church and state so that means most of their policies have to go through religious traditions/guidelines before making it into law. This effects our trade with countries. We don't put a whole lot of money trying to trade cows with India because they worship the cow and would never think about eating it.

I really can't wait to get back to all of my friends and be able to go to lunch, TAILGATE at the football games, and just truly enjoy the last of my undergraduate career. I am sad that it is over so quickly however I am happy for all the experiences, roadtrips, friends, and love I have and am going to be able to share with these people for one final semester!

Now, to the kitchen...

All about the sweetness...

"Sure girls from New York are tough. And girls from Georgia, they are sweet. But those born and bred, feisty Kentucky girls, those are the ones you have to look out for. We have sugar and fire in our blood. We can ride a horse, be a debutante, throw a left hook and tell you the entire UK line-up all while making sweet tea. And if we have an opinion, you get to know it. We're both the pride and downfall of the Bluegrass" ~Ashley Judd




Those famous words got me to thinking one day....why doesn't everyone love sweet tea? I know, in that entire quote I just had to focus on the food component..haha, but who could blame me. What is it about this wonderful beverage that has the majority of Southerners addicted and Northerners scowling in disgust? Well, I have an idea on the subject. Sweet tea is a staple in my family and has always shared a spot at the dinner table with me and my siblings. However, our tea is a little different from the next Southern families. Here is our recipe:
-- 4 bags of Luzianne Decaf tea (in the green box)
-- a pot of water
Heat the pot of water and throw in the tea bags. Then when it looks like it is done and the water is a deep brown remove the tea bags and pour the remaining liquid into a pitcher. Fill the pitcher up with cool water. Fill your glass with ice (my family prefers crushed, since we have that feature on the fridge), then put 1 sweet n low in the glass and fill it to the brim with tea. Enjoy!!

NOW, if you can follow that recipe and you have a good product in the end then you ae either very lucky or have made sweet tea before. Sweet tea is something that is learned preferably by a southerner. Recipes just don't do it justice.

Of course, my families recipe definitely is not a normal one. A normal recipe calls for everything in the above recipe except after you take out the tea bags you pour in 2-4 cups (everyone is a little different, for Becca & Brit it would be 4 cups, for me it would be 2 cups...haha) of sugar. After the sugar has dissolved then you pour it into a pitcher and fill it with cool water. By the way, in this recipe don't put any sweet n low unless you wanna taste something disgusting!

In the southern world, which I proclaim is from Southern Kentucky to Florida's northern state line, sweet tea is as common as drinking out of mason jars, fried food, canning, and front porch swings.