Simply put: there is way too much going on.
Too much news. Too many changes. Too much to get done at home. Too many events and classes and blog posts and podcasts to attend to. Not to mention, we own way too many animals.
All of it has left me completely overwhelmed—should I write about this bill or that trend? This experience or that news? Should I blast out my opinions into the blogosphere like so many writers seem to do, or take the time and energy to research everything I say (which is my clear preference)?
And so I am asking for help. I would like some help getting out of my own head and learning more about what are you interested in. What would like to learn more about? What issues or questions in the world of food and agriculture don’t you understand and would like to have spelled out?
One of the skills I think (hope) I possess is the ability to see an issue from different perspectives—and so I am titling this series “Help Me Understand.” My hope is that with a little more understanding of issues that seem perplexing to us, we might actually be able to bridge more of the divides that are growing like glacial crevasses between us.
So please help me out: what food and farming issues do you want more insight into? How can I help you understand more about the topics you care about?
Please leave your comments below or email me directly at bethaudio@gmail.com. You can stay anonymous or attach your name to the question, and no question is too silly or too basic, too big or too small to ask!
Beth Hoffman is a journalist, author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America, and farms with her husband John at Whippoorwill Creek Farm in south central Iowa. They offer grass-finished beef, forest-raised goat, cooking and writing classes, and overnight stays.
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I like your mix of personal and researched issues that affect the farming and rural community. Your stories help build your readers of knowledge on how your particular farming operation relates to the wider agri business world.
Related to "where do school lunch dollars go" is "where do SNAP benefit dollars go"?