Along with our friends at Nationwide, we are on a journey to better understand the “S-Word”, or as you might know it: sustainability. Yes, we are digging into sustainability in a whole new way. Sustainability carries a different meaning and connotation to each of us. It depends on who we are, what boots we wear on a daily basis, our background, our families, our businesses….you name it. So, to break this all down (‘FarmHer it’) we decided to have a discussion about what sustainability means to three women from three different parts of agriculture. Meet all three:
Julie Kenney, the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and a FarmHer right here in Iowa
Hannah borg, a FarmHer raising chickens in Nebraska
Casey Cox, a FarmHer from a diverse family farm in Georgia
These women are professionals, business owners, growers, and consumers and each have their own take on the “S-Word”.
The “S-Word” in Iowa
For Julie, in the many roles she plays as a human, the “S-Word” is more than just agriculture. Wife, Mom, Professional, FarmHer. Sometimes, sustainability is just keeping each role going or keeping all the balls in the air. It changes every minute of the day!
However, from the specific view of sustainability from the Department of Agriculture, it means sustaining the Iowans that they serve and looking at it from an environmental standpoint. Animal care, water quality, new practices, profitability…Again, keeping all of the balls in the air.
Family Farming and Preparing for the Future
Next, I chatted with Hannah. She is a sixth-generation FarmHer who has a special connection to our brand. She spent one summer with the FarmHerd as an amazing intern. Hannah agrees sustainability is hard to define whether that’s on the farm or as a person. But for her, sustainability is striving to lift her eyes and prepare for the future.
She has been back on her family farm for three years now and not only as the farm evolved, but so has she. The first year was survival mode, taking in and completing everything she could. The second-year was her year to thrive! She found what her identity on the farm was. And this year… strive.
Striving by being a better caretaker of the land, her health, and her family.
Hannah is no stranger to sustainability in agriculture either. Her family farm is a century farm. Talk about sustainable!
Being a Steward of All Things
Last, but certainly not least, Casey. Casey’s a FarmHer I met several years ago on her family farm in Georgia. The concept that comes to her mind when she thinks about sustainability is being a good steward. Not just of land, but in your community and life in general.
This includes being more selfless, careful, and responsible with the management of anything you have been entrusted with.
Juggling all the roles, being better prepared, and/or taking the job of a steward seriously are all are personal sustainability goals of FarmHers. But I think we can take each and every single one of these and relate them to how we see sustainability in agriculture too.
Everybody Eats
Find More Stories at Everybody Eats
We all eat, and that is why farming will always matter. Everybody Eats is where the stories of food and farming intersect.
These stories told through my FarmHer lens connect us to our food and more importantly, the people behind it.
Nationwide’s Everybody Eats is a collection of stories of those who protect our rural communities, who grow our food with extraordinary care, and who provide support, education, and assistance to make sure Everybody Eats.
I saw a show were a farm her lady was growing tomato in Iowa I would love to know what procedure she using and to tell her she should write a book on growing tomato.l was really impressed with her crop
I liked the article because it was about the S-word, sustainability, I learned that we all eat and that is why farming will always matter, It is useful information because it is more than just agriculture.
I liked the article because it was about sustainability. I learned that you should eat better foods like proteins! I think it is useful information because it is more than just sustainability.
I really think its cool that in recent years women have been able to support there family and there community by being a major part of agriculture across the country.
I liked this because it talks about how she is the sixth generation Farm Her. I learned that there is a lot of versions of the S-word. This is useful information because it is more than just one version of the S-word
This article shows that you can have different meanings for the S-word and its for good reasons
I thought that it was an amazing article and that you have a big brain and that I think that you come up with very good things that can help people in the future.
thank you
I liked the article because more people need to strive to be better that they can be. I learned that i need to try harder to do things like farming and eating healthy and sports. It is useful info because most people dont do the good stuff you should do.
I like this article because it talked about farms in Iowa. I learned that the s-word in Iowa is sustainability. this article is useful cause it talks about Agriculture and I think more people need to get into it cause that’s how people use to live.
I liked this because it told me all about the different meanings of the S-word. I learned what the S-word was, and what it meant to all the different FarmHers!
I like it because everybody needs sustainability.I learned is that everybody needs sustainability.it is uesfull because sustainability is key. 5E even Mrs Arey’s health class.
I liked this article because it talks about how people all have different experiences and different concepts of words and life.
This is really cool for young and older girls that can prove that anyone and everyone can do anything and boys/men think that farming is only for them but really its for girls/boys and anyone who wants to do it and you show a lot of people that it is ok do be a boy and do girls things and grils do boys things.
I think this is interesting because people have different styles of living and use the s-word differently. I think this can be useful because you can see the different points of view of the s-word for the styles of people’s lives.
I think you bring up a good point about that and I would love to learn more
I like how the article is about Iowa farms. I think something that is useful is that the s word is actually sustainability. Something I think is important is it shows different peoples point of view of the s word and how it affected them.
I think it’s neat that this article talks about sustainability, something not a lot of people know about. I learned that just eating everything on your plate is sustainable. I think this can be useful because it can help to save the world.
I liked this article because it teaches us that the S-word has more than one meaning. I learned that she is the sixth generation Farmher and that farmhers do a lot for us. this info is useful cause it teaches us how hard these Farmhers work and how much time they put into what there doing.
my name is Brian,I liked it because everybody needs Sustainability.leaned that everybody needs Sustainability. It is useful information because Sustainability.
my name is Brian,I liked it because everybody needs Sustainability.leaned that everybody needs Sustainability. It is useful information because Sustainability. 5e,even,6th grade heath class
My name is Brian,I liked it because everybody needs Sustainability.learned that everybody needs Sustainability. It is useful information because Sustainability. 5e,even,6th grade health class([email protected]
The S-word has many diffrent meanings from how the people live. And this can be use full because you can use the s-word as ways that people who inspire you to use it
I liked this article because of how detailed it is. I learned that everyone needs to eat so we need to have sustainable farms. This is very useful because it educates us on what different FarmHers do.
I liked this article because it talks about sustainability and that is one of the things I worry about every day. I want to be able to advocate for climate change when I’m older. I learned many things. One thing that I learned was that farming really matters. I used to think that farming really wasn’t that important. This is useful information because it is inspiring for me.